


Unfortunate Souls

by rexlover180



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Hunk is like constantly stressed out, Little Mermaid AU, M/M, Magic, Multi, Mutual Pining, Pining, everyone is lovesick, it's a great time
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-17
Updated: 2017-08-10
Packaged: 2018-10-20 07:57:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 41,703
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10658268
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rexlover180/pseuds/rexlover180
Summary: Stop me if you've heard this one before. A prince, a merman, and a sea wizard find themselves in a predicament as they meet each other and fall in love. A prince falls into the ocean in an accident, the merman saves him, the merman needs help getting onto land, and the sea wizard that helps him is a childhood friend. They didn't all meet at the same time, but the more time they spend with each other, the more it clicks. But what do they do when all three are in love with each other? Will their be jealousy? A love triangle? Will one be left out? Can the land and sea really intertwine? Isn't betrayal what makes things more interesting?Nah, I'm just kidding. Spoiler alert: it ends in polyamory.





	1. Chapter 1

This was stupid, so very, very stupid. And yet, Lance couldn’t care about that. He was so, incredibly happy, he could barely hold it in. He’d found him, the prince. Safe and sound and unbearably cute and amazing and handsome and fantastic and… Lance had to…how do the humans say it…take a breath to collect himself before he actually exploded. He was swimming so quickly through the water that he almost ran into other people and fish, but he had to be quick, report his findings to his friend. He practically vibrated he was so excited!

He hadn’t really expected it, all of it came by surprise, honestly. Lance liked to check out human beaches, which he knew was dangerous but he was the adventurous type. And, hell, this specific beach happened to have a castle on it and he was very, very interested. And, as he peeked around a rock to see if anyone was there, lo and behold, the object of his undying affection over the past few weeks stood in front of him. And he wasn’t drowning, which was a massive plus. And the wind was blowing through his fluffy, black hair perfectly and the sun shone on his deep, indigo eyes like a God sent straight from Heaven. Not to mention someone called his name and Lance nearly had a heart attack when he heard the guy’s voice respond to it without croaking in distress.

“Pidge!” Lance called out as he got close to his friend’s dwelling. “Pidge! Come on, I got something to tell you!”

Sure enough, Pidge’s head stuck out of the doorway, raising an eyebrow at Lance with an otherwise blank expression on her face. “Is this about your boyfriend again?”

“He’s not my boyfriend,” Lance scoffed, finally slowing down in front of her. “I mean, not yet. Or…probably ever?”

“What’s your news?” Pidge asked, leaning against the doorway, her dark green tail glinting in the light of day that filtered down to the sand. It actually looked pretty amazing today, considering the lack of clouds overhead, but Lance had more important things to worry about it.

“I found him…again,” Lance said, starting to fiddle with his fingers because his hands _really_ needed to do something. “I mean, like, where he lives. And stuff. And I know his name now.”

“Alright, let’s hear it,” Pidge said, nodding her head inside before moving in that direction, Lance following her closely. Apparently, her family wasn’t home yet, but that just made this slightly less awkward than normal. Lance already had Matt teasing him about this ‘human obsession’ constantly. Whatever, like the subject Matt was taking in school was much better; figuring out how to work technology under the ocean was only a really new thing in general. Lance was pretty sure Matt was the only student actually taking that course of study.

“He’s a prince,” Lance said with a little sigh. “His castle is actually on a beach, which he likes to hang out on. And don’t give me that look I didn’t stare at him. For that long. And…uh…his name is…K-Keith.” Lance couldn’t stop the blush forming on his face. It was his first time saying that name out loud and it just sounded…so great. His mouth formed the word so well, it sounded like Lance was meant to say it. God, he was so love struck it hurt.

“You’ve really got it bad, don’t you?” Pidge asked. “You know that’s not a good idea…”

It was common knowledge that Queen Allura didn’t want anyone communicating with humans. It was dangerous to both sides, what with the human’s obsession with dissecting things for science and the sticky past mermaids had when it came to killing seamen in the past few centuries. And on top of that there was no way to properly maintain any relationships between people on land and sea and no amount of magic was gonna change that.

“I know,” Lance said, draping himself over some of Pidge’s furniture. He knew this was a terrible idea. The worst idea anyone had ever thought of. There was absolutely no way this would work out. But even just looking at Keith’s eyes on that beach, the slightly immature curiosity as he examined shells and absently talked to that animal. Keith called it a cat, and it looked to Lance like he owned it. “I’m stupid, right?” Lance asked.

“No, you’re just an idiot,” Pidge said and Lance glared up at her. “I just don’t want you to hurt yourself over this human. It’s not going to do a lot of good for you in the long run.”

“Yeah,” Lance muttered. “But…I just…there’s definitely something there, ya know? Like I’m meant to spend time with him? Like a soul mate.”

“You’re going to make me vomit,” Pidge said, rolling her eyes.

“Yeah, well, not everyone can be aro,” Lance said with a scoff. “Trust me, life would be way easier that way. And yet here I am with a crush on a human, of all people.”

“Well, luckily for you, there are plenty of fish in the sea,” Pidge said, patting Lance’s shoulder. “You’ll find someone, Lance. Someone just like this Keith guy. The ocean’s a big place.”

“I mean, it’s pretty hard to copy perfection,” Lance said and Pidge groaned.

“Whatever, I know how to distract you,” Pidge said. “Matt and I have been working on something new and we need a test subject.”

“A what now?” Lance asked bluntly, looking up at Pidge with a skeptical look. “Pidge, last time I did you a favor, my skin was green for three weeks.”

“Oh, it wasn’t that bad,” Pidge scoffed.

“ _Three weeks_ , Pidge,” Lance said, holding up three fingers in emphasis. “Do you know how much I got made fun of? For three weeks? No way.”

“If you do this…” Pidge said with a knowing smirk, “I might help you think of a way to talk to _Keith_.”

Oh, she was going there. Lance scowled at her for a little while, but eventually straightened himself out. Pidge smiled happily before swimming out and Lance skeptically followed after her.

“I swear, Pidge, if this turns me another color, I’m gonna _kill you_.”

* * *

This was stupid, so very, very stupid. And yet, Hunk couldn’t stop himself. He knew it was creepy. Beyond creepy, really. It verged on pervy, if he was going to be honest with himself. But, honestly, what’s the point of having magic if he couldn’t use it to spy on his childhood crush? Okay, maybe this was a terrible idea. But he’d already started on this path, what was the point in going back now?

Lance was so adorable, the way his blue tail flicked in the light when he was excited, practically exploding in a rainbow across his scales. The way his arm muscles flexed and relaxed as he swam really quickly. The way his hair wisped around in the water as he moved. Hunk sighed, leaning forward on the little counter as he stared at the mirror he’d repurposed for ~~stalking~~ watching his crush when Hunk had a spare moment. Every time he looked at it, Hunk had to reason with himself that what he was doing wasn’t really bad. After all, when he looked at the mirror all he really did was stare, nothing else very creepy or sleazy.

Besides, the way Lance was flitting about his friend’s new weird machine was just too good a view to pass up. His light blue eyes seemed to be travelling a mile a minute as he tried to take in all the details, talking to his friend about what she was doing. Hunk couldn’t hear anything, his magic wasn’t _that_ advanced yet, but damn if he wasn't close. But he could imagine Lance’s voice. He’d heard it a few times recently, way deeper than most of Hunk’s memories, but it was good. It was nice. God, this was bad, wasn’t it?

Hunk absently watched the way Lance’s hair moved in the water every time he shifted positions, the look on his face absolutely mesmerizing as he continued that in-depth conversation. Hunk sighed before glancing back at his work, little potions, ingredients, and spells etched into shells and coral scattered on top of a table. He still had a lot to do. People were paying him to do his job, after all. He had a few potions to make, a special contract that was being used to make sure both parties in a business would uphold their deal, and a special spell for a really high paying customer. Hunk tried to make sure he only took the more…morally upstanding jobs, since his magic could easily be turned around and used for less than pleasant things. Like…stalking someone you have a crush on.

Hunk glanced back at the mirror for just a second, a glimpse of Lance’s smile enough to spur him on to get to work. He started gathering more ingredients for the potion as he let out a sigh. He didn’t really have that much of a chance, after all. Not only did he and Lance naturally separate from each other while Hunk had to focus on his magic studies and Lance had to focus on normal school, but Lance also had a crush on someone else. A human. What an impossible standard to live up to, honestly.

First off, Hunk didn’t have legs. Second off, apparently this other guy was a prince? And Hunk was just some awkward wizard that did jobs for very little money because he was too nice to charge what he should be charging. He already got enough crap from other sea witches and wizards that were way more successful than him. But Hunk couldn’t help it! He had regular customers and everyone left with a satisfied smile on their face. Hunk liked making these connections and genuinely helping people for the sake of helping people and not for the money. There was no way Hunk, who barely kept enough money to eat enough each week, could match up to a _prince._

And, of course, Hunk wanted Lance to be happy and this prince guy apparently did that…so Hunk would just be bitter on his own and watch from far away. Seemed like a perfectly fair compromise.

* * *

This was stupid, so very, very stupid. And yet, Keith was still sitting here, on the beach, looking out on the ocean. There was just something about a near-death experience via drowning that made him melancholic. Apparently. Keith actually wasn’t sure what he was feeling. It was…complicated. Keith almost thought there was some weird feeling of…maybe not love, more like attraction? Whatever it was, Keith couldn’t stop thinking about _that face_. He was positive it was some kind of hallucination that came from almost dying but…

Keith groaned, leaning back onto the heels of his hands as he stared up at the sky. The sun was setting and it was starting to get cold, yet his feet were still in the water as it flowed in and out from the ocean. Red, his cat, was purring and rubbing against his arm, asking for attention, but Keith’s mind was a bit preoccupied at the moment. It had been a few weeks since his accident and he still thought about it, which was kind of weird. Right?

Keith’s head was still a mess when it came to sorting through that day. He made it to the beach, somehow. He didn’t die. Somehow. And there was a very clear memory of a voice in his head. Some…some kind of…conversation? Keith leaned forward, ruffling his hair violently, as if willing the voice to leave his head. He didn’t know the face very well, it was mostly a blob in his head…but the voice. It was like he was hearing it right now, that lilting, almost hypnotizing voice that seemed to pull him towards the water.

“Keith!”

Keith nearly jumped out of his own skin, looking up at the ocean in slight shock before looking behind him, where the voice actually came from. It was just Shiro, his half-brother. Keith let out a sigh before nodding to him. This beach was his one escape from the pressures just feet away inside that castle. Neither of their parents went onto the beach, only Shiro really did. And he rarely did, if ever. It was Keith’s private space, to think and…get as far away as possible from his real life.

“What is it, Shiro?” Keith asked.

“Dinner’s ready,” Shiro said. “Mom and Dad were getting worried. You doing okay?”

“I dunno,” Keith muttered, looking back out at the ocean. Sitting here like this felt calm and peaceful, he loved the feeling of the sand as he ran it absently through his fingers, the feeling of the shallow water brushing over his feet. But if he went past that? Even just an ankle deep brought back some less than pleasant memories. He’d start panicking and he would find himself running back to the sand in seconds.

“Is this still about the accident?” Shiro asked patiently, sitting down beside him. Red immediately starting leaning against him and he finally supplied her with the attention she was craving.

“Maybe,” Keith said. “Not…really. Kind of? I’m not sure.”

“You know you can talk to me about anything, right?” Shiro asked.

“I’ll be sure to talk to you the second I know what I even want to talk about,” Keith said. Shiro just gave him a concerned look and Keith offered a smile. “I’m fine, Shiro, really. I just…have a lot going on in my head right now.”

“If you’re positive,” Shiro said. “You gonna come up for dinner or should I cover for you again?”

“I might as well eat something,” Keith said, standing up with Shiro. He looked back out to the ocean and, for a second, he could have sworn he saw something…duck down into the water. Keith tried to find it again while he walked back towards the castle with his brother, but he couldn’t see anything else.

Not the merman that was blushing just underneath the surface of the water. And especially not the sea wizard watching the two of them from a safe distance.


	2. Chapter 2

“And you’re sure about this, Pidge?” Lance asked hesitantly, glancing around them as they swam. Normally, Lance trusted Pidge with his life, as one of his few really close friends, but this might be stretching it a little bit. Pidge was normally a woman of science anyway, so it was pretty strange that she was apparently resorting to magic. Lance normally didn’t have a problem with it, but he knew better than to go anywhere near the witches and wizards of the sea. They were always known for conning people with fake magic. Sure, people used to study magic for real and Lance was sure a few people still did but…not here.

“I wouldn’t do this if I wasn’t sure,” Pidge said easily, looking back at him. “Now, stop looking like some kid leaving his house for the first time. You’re lucky you’re not actually carrying money or anything important.”

“Are you?” Lance asked bluntly. Pidge didn’t even have a bag on her.

“I’m not an idiot,” Pidge scoffed. “Now, be quiet, we’re here.” She stopped in front of a small cave. It didn’t stand out much from any of the other homes around them, no matter what they were made out of. This was, however, the only one that didn’t have any sleazy people or weird colors coming out of it.

“So…who are we going to see?” Lance asked. “Better not be anyone creepy, I’m trusting you here.”

“From what I’ve heard of this guy,” Pidge mused, “he’s probably the only that that’ll make it actually feasible to get with your new boyfriend.”

“He’s not my boyfriend.”

“Yet.”

“Let’s just get this over with,” Lance said, motioning for Pidge to go ahead first. Pidge rolled her eyes before swimming forward and Lance followed closely behind.

“Why are you such a wuss?” Pidge groaned but quickly turned towards the wizard, who had his back turned to them as he worked on something on top of a table.

Lance quirked a brow. There was something familiar about this guy that he couldn’t put his finger on, but it was nagging at him in the back of his head. He was a pretty big guy, could probably lift anything in his spare time, but he was moving so carefully through the water, it was like he was afraid to break anything. He was humming to himself as he worked, his deep voice very familiar. Lance leaned over slightly to see what kind of tail the guy was sporting, maybe that would help him out, but when he was greeted by the sight of bright yellow tentacles, everything clicked.

“ _Hunk_?” Lance asked and the wizard dropped something before glancing back at them with wide eyes. A massive smile grew on Lance’s face as he took in the man’s features. Oh, yeah, this was definitely the guy! Lance’s best friend in school who got whisked away to become some bigshot magic guy. Lance had never expected him to actually stay so close to him. “No way, dude! It is you!”

“Uh…” Hunk glanced between his two new guests before glancing at a mirror he had hung up on the wall.

“What’s up? I haven’t seen you in a while,” Lance said, quickly swimming closer to his old friend.

“Wait, wait, wait,” Pidge interjected. “You know him?”

“Well, yeah,” Lance said. Obviously, Pidge didn’t pay very good attention. “We went to school together years ago. Big guy and I were inseparable. This is the guy that’s in all my stories!”

“This is the guy?” Pidge asked, looking closer at Hunk.

“Y-you talk about me?” Hunk stammered out and Lance just smiled. And here he thought he would have to deal with some weird guy that wanted weird favors. Instead, he got his old friend. He was still kind of shy, from the looks of it, and a little reserved, but if there was anything Lance was confident about, it was that Hunk was still smart.

“Of course, buddy, why not?” Lance chimed. “Hey, now that I know where you are, we should totally try and hang out again some time. It’ll be great!”

“Yeah,” Hunk said with a smile. “I’d…I’d like that a lot.”

“Perfect, it’s settled,” Lance said before remembering why they had actually come here in the first place. “Oh, yeah, Pidge, what was it you wanted to ask him about?”

“Right, yeah,” Pidge said. “From what I’ve heard, I’m pretty sure he’s capable of getting you legs.”

“What?” Lance asked, Hunk echoing him just a half second later. Legs. That was…really simple, after all! If Lance had legs, he could…go on land and see Keith. It was a perfect plan. And if Hunk was the one to do it, even better. “Wait,” Lance turned to Hunk, “could you really do that?”

“Why do you need legs?” Hunk asked carefully.

“Uh…long story?” Lance offered with a slight blush. “I dunno…it’s just a…it’s stupid, but if you could, that would be…amazing.”

“Uh…” Hunk let out a long sigh, running a hand nervously through his hair. “Maybe. I…uh…give me a few hours. I have a few jobs I gotta do and then I’ll try looking through some books for you. Come back and I’ll tell you if I can…help…you.”

“Thanks, man, you’re a life saver,” Lance said, moving forward to hug his old friend, but even his long arms weren’t enough to fully wrap around, almost disappointing if it weren’t for how cuddly and warm Hunk was, especially in this cold water.

“Yeah,” Hunk whispered out, his arms barely hugging him back. Lance separated with a slight blush. He figured that must have been a little awkward, after all, they hadn’t seen each other in years, they couldn’t possibly as close of friends as they were last time they saw each other.

“I’m sure we can find something to do for a few hours,” Pidge offered to Lance. “I have a new component on that tech I would love to try out.”

“Why does this sound like it’s gonna kill me?” Lance groaned, but followed her out anyway, offering Hunk one last wave before they fully left the cave.

* * *

This was bad. This was very, very bad. Hunk had barely moved since Lance and Pidge had left. He probably looked like an idiot that whole time. He’d been so busy with work he hadn’t checked in on Lance today and couldn’t give himself fair warning to collect himself. Nope, he just had to be scared out of his skin when he heard Lance’s chipper voice. Hunk’s skin was still warm from where Lance had hugged him and his hands faintly grazed over his arms. He had to figure this out, and fast.

On the one hand, he wanted to help Lance. He wanted Lance to be happy and, in theory, Hunk could easily give him legs so he could go on land and woo his new crush. Lance had gotten so giddy and happy when Hunk said he might be able to do it and Hunk really didn’t want to be the one responsible for taking that smile away. Lance really wanted to be with this guy…

On the other hand…Hunk could be selfish and keep Lance to himself. He could lie and say he couldn’t do it because some ingredients were far away or he was too busy with jobs, which he really wasn’t. And then Lance would stay in the ocean, get over his little crush, and Hunk could keep his very small chance of Lance falling in love with him alive. Which was incredibly terrible and why was Hunk even considering this idea?

Hunk nervously swam across his cave, trying to think and get all those selfish ideas out of his head. Of course he had to help Lance! It was the right thing to do and Lance still considered them friends, at least. Which meant he owed this to Lance. But Lance also offered for them to stay in touch, which meant Hunk actually had a chance with him. Only if Lance stayed in the ocean.

Hunk groaned, messing up his hair violently as he tried to think. He was a good person, he would do good deeds like this for anyone else. If literally anyone else swam into his cave and asked for legs to go off and woo a prince on land, Hunk wouldn’t hesitate to do it for them. But this wasn’t just anyone, it was Lance.

“What is wrong with me?” Hunk asked himself, not even daring to look up at that mirror. If he saw Lance, saw him smiling and laughing, that would definitely make his decision for him. No, Hunk had to be smart about this. He had all the ability to do this, it would make sense that he should do this for Lance. For his…friend. Hunk could feel his heart flutter at just the idea. Here Hunk thought Lance had actually forgotten about him after all this time apart. But Lance told stories about him! Lance hugged him.

Hunk shook his head. No, he could do this. He was a mature adult and he couldn’t let his feelings control him for the rest of his life. Maybe it would be a good idea to let Lance go, maybe he’d be better off that way.

He couldn’t help himself, looking up at the mirror and seeing Lance swimming circles around Pidge, talking her ear off, most likely about getting legs and going onto land. Hunk’s gut twisted just at the sight and he groaned, leaning back. Yeah, he couldn’t let go. This was bad.

But he had to make a decision. And fast.

* * *

“Keith, we’re worried about you.”

Keith knew that tone of voice and decided it wasn’t worth the effort to fight it. His parents would have their way, no matter what. So he held his tongue, for now at least. Still, he didn’t look up from his meal. This was the only time Keith was forced to be around both his parents at the same, to listen to all the things he had to make sure he got done before he stepped up to take the crown. Normally, it was just his father and he was busy almost all day. But he really, really didn’t want to be around them at all. This wasn’t him, he wasn’t a leader, no matter how hard they tried to groom him into one.

“It’s expected of you to be married at the same time as your coronation.”

Right, that. Keith felt himself slump down marginally in his seat, hoping to get away from this conversation. Not even Shiro could help him now, he was helpless to these conversations as well. He was eating calmly, occasionally giving Keith assuring glances. Keith had talked about this with Shiro before, spilled his guts that he didn’t want to be the king, that Shiro was probably better qualified for the job, but Shiro just smiled at him, saying he would make a good leader. Shiro was older, too, but since he wasn’t blood related to the king himself, he didn’t stand a chance in the line of succession. It was Keith's responsibility. No matter how much Shiro's eyes glittered at the idea of taking a position he was practically born for.

“-we’ll be forced to have an arranged marriage.”

“A what?” Keith snapped, sitting up fully now that his attention was gathered. Shiro also snapped to attention, looking between their parents hesitantly.

“Now, don’t look at us like that. This is what’s best for the kingdom. You need someone to rule by your side and if we need to set you up with a nice woman-”

“-or man.”

“Right, or man. We’d be more than willing to do that for you.”

“No,” Keith said. This was more than his recent obsession with that voice that saved his life and the feeling in his stomach just thinking about it. This was about his own choice and he didn’t want to get married, especially not to some stranger.

“Calm down, Keith.”

“There are just some things that are out of your control. This must be done for the good of our kingdom. If you are to take the throne soon, then-”

Keith cut them off by loudly pushing his chair back and walking away. He couldn’t deal with this kind of conversation right now, he needed to think. Hell, he probably needed to run away, but that wasn’t exactly his best option, now was it? The second he left the dining room, his feet started to move on their own. He let them carry him, still silently fuming at his parents, who apparently thought making his decisions for him was the best idea. Which, obviously, it wasn’t, but he couldn’t get that through their thick skulls.

He finally figured out where he was going when he walked outside and felt the familiar sea breeze brush across his face and he let out a content sigh. Perfect, the ocean could clear his head. He shucked off his shoes and nearly tripped while rolling up his pants, making his way onto the sand in a matter of seconds. It was comfortable here, and the sun hadn’t fully set yet, leaving Keith with a slight warmth in his toes. He looked out at the water, watching and listening as waves came onto the beach. This was fine, this was exactly where he wanted to be. Away and free.

Keith plopped ungracefully onto the sand, his feet right at the edge of where most of the water came up. He’d loved swimming not too long ago, loved going out on boats and having adventures climbing the rocks quite a ways out. But he couldn’t really do that anymore, now could he? He wanted to, but even just looking at the deep blue water gave him anxiety. No, he could just stay on the beach, where it was perfectly safe. He briefly wondered about what was possibly happening out there, in the water. What the fish were doing, if sharks were eating enough…what the mermaids would be doing, if they really existed. Keith chuckled lightly to himself, hugging his knees close to his chest. Mermaids…

* * *

“I can do it,” Hunk said, watching as Lance’s face lit up even more than it had earlier that day. Lance once again launched himself onto Hunk, pulling him into a close hug. Hunk tried desperately to hide the blush on his face. “Don’t get too excited about it yet, there are some…catches.”

“Like what?” Lance asked, pulling away, but the smile still hadn’t left his face. Pidge looked at him skeptically.

“The potion that I’ll use, there are some drawbacks to it,” Hunk explained. This was all bullshit, of course, but he had to find a way to compromise with himself and this was the only way. “It doesn’t last very long on its own, just my magic isn’t enough to power it. I can make it last three days, but if you want it to last indefinitely…you’re gonna need something more powerful.”

“Okay, like what?” Pidge asked.

“True Love’s Kiss,” Hunk explained, hoping that this actually made sense. Since he decided to compromise with himself, he’d spent forever coming up with this plan. This way, his conscience was clear and he helped Lance but also didn’t just take away his own happy ending. If he was lucky, Lance would fail, but that also wasn’t lucky because then Lance would probably be pretty depressed for a while. Regardless, this was what Hunk decided to do. He continued explaining, “It’s the most powerful magic entity and it can make pretty much any spell go on forever.” Lance hadn’t actually told Hunk about his reason for going up on land, so he would just have to see what Lance did next.

“So…in theory,” he said, mostly turned towards Pidge, “if I go up there and get Keith to kiss me and he is my…True Love…then I could stay. With him.”

“If you think it’s possible,” Hunk offered, but he was still hesitant.

“You sound like there’s another catch,” Pidge said and Hunk nodded.

“What is it?” Lance asked.

“The spell requires a…payment of sorts,” Hunk explained. “This isn’t about me, really. Magic comes at a price to who makes it but also who uses it. It’s going to take something away from you.”

“Like…what?” Lance asked hesitantly.

“Your voice,” Hunk said. There was also a little part of him that just wanted Lance to give up, to look at what he would have to give up in order to fulfill this dream of his.

“I…won’t even have my voice when I try to meet this guy?” Lance asked, his mood quickly dropping.

“It’s…the price,” Hunk said carefully. “But if you can get the kiss, then you can stay up there forever. With him.”

“Will I ever get my voice back?” Lance asked. He looked very hard in thought, weighing his options and thinking through what, exactly all of this would mean.

“Maybe,” Hunk said, clearing his throat. Knowing him, he probably wouldn’t be able to stand keeping Lance’s voice away from him after he got that kiss. If he got that kiss. “If the spell fails, then yes you get it back. I…haven’t seen the spell completed with the kiss, so I don’t know if it’ll come back when you do it.”

Lance obviously hesitated for a while and Pidge swam up to him, placing a hand on his shoulder.

“Let’s sleep on it, okay?” Pidge offered and Lance nodded slowly.

“I’m sorry it’s so complicated,” Hunk apologized. “If I could do it any better, I would, especially for a…an old friend.”

“I know you’re trying your hardest for me, Hunk, thanks,” Lance said with a small smile and Hunk immediately felt a wave of guilt come over him followed by complete awe at how adorable Lance could be in this kind of situation. Guilt came again right after for him even taking this situation was cute in the first place. “I’ll uh, swing by tomorrow?”

“Yeah, I’ll, uh, keep the door open for ya,” Hunk offered with a slight laugh. Lance nodded to him, following Pidge out of Hunk’s home and Hunk let out a very long sigh.

This was a terrible idea. The worst idea he’d ever had. Why couldn’t he just help Lance wholeheartedly? Why did he have to be so selfish? Hunk groaned. He’d made his decision, now he just had to make peace with it. Regardless of whether or not Lance went through with this was now out of Hunk’s hands. This was fine, he could do this. It is definitely not the end of the world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took me a while to put up and I'm sorry about that. Finals and anxiety and all that. But its up now! Hope y'all enjoyed!


	3. Chapter 3

Lance was nervous, but he wasn’t about to back down now. He made his decision and he wasn’t about to back down from it. He’d left early in the morning before anyone else was really awake, just to make sure he wouldn’t turn back. He had to think long and hard about what he was going to do all night. On the one hand, he could stay under the water with the people that he knew and loved and regret never even trying to go after the man of his dreams in the first place. On the other…he could give this a shot. He figured there wasn’t actually a high chance of the guy actually reciprocating his feelings, so he could do the thing for three days and then go back to his normal life feeling satisfied that he at least tried.

And…on the rare chance that Keith actually fell in love with him and kissed him…Well, Lance could just, like, tell Keith he was a merman or something and they could figure it out from there. That made sense. Wasn’t extremely likely, anyway.

So, Lance made his way back over to the witch community where Hunk was, steeling himself mentally for this really stupid and rash decision he was about to make. When he finally made it to the familiar looking cave, Lance swallowed thickly before swimming inside. He could faintly hear some humming inside and he swam a little slower, a small smile playing on his lips. It sounded…deep, content, and sweet. Lance stopped swimming when he could finally look into the work area Hunk had laid out.

Hunk was swimming around the room, his back to Lance as he did his magic. It not only seemed to swirl around in the air, but the potions of all different colors seemed to light up the room. Hunk hadn’t noticed Lance yet, continuing his humming to a sweet, fast paced song. He even seemed to be dancing a little on his own and Lance couldn’t help but chuckle a little bit, almost moving forward to join his old friend, but the sound of his laughter had attracted Hunk’s attention.

“Lance!” Hunk said, his face turning a bright red as he whipped around, wringing his hands together.

“You have a great voice,” Lance said with a smile, moving forward excitedly. “And, dude, if you weren’t so hesitant, you could totally dance better than anyone I’ve ever seen!”

“Ah…psh, no,” Hunk said with a wave of his hand before rubbing the back of his neck. He was still blushing. Lance smirked.

“You’re blushing,” Lance said, leaning forward. “You just never get compliments down here? Because, damn, you totally deserve them.”

“Okay, what are you here for again?” Hunk asked, leaving Lance’s side almost too quickly and Lance found himself pouting, but looked at Hunk as he rested on the other side of the table. Lance idly looked down at the potions littered between them.

“I…uh…decided to go through with that thing…” Lance said. His thoughts briefly flashed to Keith, where he was, nearby. There was no telling if Keith had even moved on from the incident, hell, he probably had, but Lance just really wanted to try. See him one more time. That would be plenty.

“You did?” Hunk asked bluntly and Lance nodded, glancing up at his old friend before staring at the potions again. He still felt unsure about this, nervous. He was terrified of seeing Keith and possibly even being turned down. That would be worse than never going. But he had to take the chance, especially since he had a friend willing to help him out. Once Lance came back (because he most likely would in the end) he would have to remember to spend more time with Hunk.

“So…what do we gotta do?” Lance asked after a moment of silence filled the cave.

“Right…uh…” Hunk said. “Let me check again, just to make sure.”

Lance nodded, finally looking up as Hunk moved across the cave to pull out some thick book, flipping through it haphazardly. Lance slowly swam closer to him out of curiosity and Hunk eventually slammed the book closed and let out a sigh.

“We need to get ingredients,” Hunk announced and Lance blinked, nodding.

“Okay, you’re the expert here,” Lance said. “Um…do you need, like, payment or anything?”

“What? No, you’re, uh…you’re my friend, don’t worry about it,” Hunk said, shaking his head furiously. “Just, like, help me get the ingredients and we’ll call it even, okay?”

“Are you sure? I can pay you for your trouble, I really don’t mind,” Lance said. “This is just me being, like, really selfish and making you do me this favor.”

“No, seriously, don’t worry about it,” Hunk said. “Uh…c’mon, I need this like…rare…kelp and you can help me get it. Y’know, pay me back this way.”

“Okay, sure,” Lance said, following Hunk out of the cave. Lance glanced back at the cave as they left. There was no turning back now, Lance was going to get legs and then he was going to meet Keith. Hear Keith speak actual words…He took a deep breath to steady his nerves. He could do this.

* * *

Keith was…bored. Was that the best word for this? He was tired, uninterested, and honestly couldn’t care less about what was happening around him. He was halfway to falling asleep already, looking away from his lesson and staring out the window to his side and out over the ocean. He still had no idea what had him so drawn to it, especially since he couldn’t swim…but he could just stare at it for hours. Even though it was raining, it still looked inviting, like Keith could take a swim and never have to come back. He let out a sigh as his eyes flickered between the ocean and the quickly darkening clouds. A storm was brewing.

“My prince!” his teacher snapped before slapping a ruler onto the desk Keith was leaning against. He blinked in surprise, finally looking up at him sheepishly. He started spacing out the second he started talking about ‘future kingly duties,’ which was pretty much immediately after the lesson started. “I allowed you to have your desk near the window like you asked, but if you continue to fail to pay attention, I will be forced to move you again.”

“Yeah, I get it,” Keith said, leaning back in the chair and looking forward, as his teacher started talking, but Keith still didn’t listen. His teacher was a lord or something, very experienced in all the things it took to be a king, apparently. His father was too busy to teach him, after all, doing actual kingly things. And Shiro wasn’t ‘allowed’ to be in these lessons, since he wasn’t meant to be the next king…leaving Keith entirely alone and terribly, terribly bored.

And, yet, Keith was stuck, unable to actually deny his own family and his own job. He would have to be king, no matter how much he hated the idea. No matter how much he thought Shiro would be better at this, he just had to accept it. Keith bit back a groan. He really didn’t want to do it, though.

Keith glanced back at the ocean for just a second, briefly catching himself daydreaming about swimming into the ocean and never coming back. Keith actually did groan out loud this time and faced the incoming lecture his teacher gave him to behave like a ‘proper king.’

* * *

This was an absolutely terrible idea and Hunk felt like shit because of this, but he couldn’t back down now. Not only did Lance surprise him earlier by coming out of nowhere and _leaning towards him like that_. And now Hunk was making Lance go with him on errands even though he totally could have done this for free. But, it was nice…

Lance was still nervous as hell, but he was starting to relax. He still loved to laugh and joke around with Hunk and still hated puns and…Hunk had it really bad. He could feel it hurting him slowly, but he still wanted to be around Lance. Lance, who was in love with someone else. Lance, whose eyes looked really bright when he was excited about something. Lance, who was trusting Hunk to not let his emotions control him and help him get legs to get on land to meet his prince.

“Okay, but have you had any really weird customers?” Lance asked conversationally as he stayed close to the ocean floor to pick up some coral.

“You mean, weirder than someone asking for legs to go see a prince?” Hunk asked with a smirk.

Lance stared at him for a second before cracking one of those gorgeous smiles and Hunk damn near fainted. “Okay, but this can’t be the weirdest thing that’s happened to you.”

“I mean, living surrounded by witches makes weird your mundane so…” Hunk drew out, swimming a little further away.

“Oh, come on, you can’t just say that and not give me any stories!” Lance protested, following Hunk now, his previous task forgotten. “Spill, at least give me one story.”

“Well…there was this one guy, a travelling salesman, who would bother us from time to time even though we told him not to come,” Hunk mused and nearly smirked when he saw Lance’s excited face, the merman swimming ever closer to him. Hunk chuckled, his hand betraying him to ruffle Lance’s hair absently. “And so my neighbors decided to put a curse on him and, long story short, he’s now a turtle with absolutely no sense of direction probably on the other side of the world.”

“Are you serious?” Lance asked, laughing so hard he held onto his stomach. And then he snorted. He fucking snorted. What a cute guy, honestly Hunk had no chance of making it out of there alive. “Okay, but wait, have you ever cursed anyone?”

“What? No, I’m not the cursing type, honestly,” Hunk scoffed. “I’m more of a…blessings kind of guy.”

“You can give blessings?” Lance asked bluntly.

“Not…exactly,” Hunk mused. “I dunno, my main thing is that I grant wishes and all that stuff, so…”

“So…am I stopping you from getting other people’s wishes done?” Lance asked hesitantly.

“No, of course not.” Maybe a little. “Besides, you are technically a customer even if you’re not technically paying me. It’s fine. And you’re a friend, so it’s not like I’d ever just leave you alone or anything.”

“Thanks, buddy,” Lance said with that goofy smile of his. “Um…anyway, is this enough of what you need?”

“Yeah, yeah,” Hunk said, taking what Lance had in his hand and putting it in the bag hanging by his hip. “We just need one more ingredient, if you’re cool sticking around me.”

“Well, I mean, my plan kinda hung around being on land so I’m free all day,” Lance said easily.

Hunk nodded before looking around, trying to make sure he knew for sure where he was going. When he started swimming, Lance was close behind him, already itching to go faster. Lance had always been fast, as a kid and especially as an adult, and Hunk could practically _feel_ himself slowing him down, but Lance didn’t seem to mind, just absently looking around the ocean at all the fish and other people they passed. Hunk nearly allowed himself to get distracted and almost took a wrong turn around a rock formation, but he corrected and soon they were at the mouth of a pretty large cave.

“Whoa,” Lance said. “What kinda stuff you need from here?”

“It’s a special kind of water infused with magic,” Hunk explained, already pulling out a little vial from the bag as well. “Kinda hard to explain, but it’s heavier than other water, looks different. Just…uh…be careful, this cave is a little old, so it’s pretty unstable. Don’t touch anything, really.”

“Well, careful is my middle name,” Lance said proudly and Hunk just rolled his eyes before swimming inside. “What?” Lance whined, following him while Hunk just laughed, looking around. It was supposed to be in little pools around the little cavern, left over from some strong wizard. Hunk wasn’t entirely sure what spell he cast, but there were certainly a lot of rumors. Regardless, the water had a lot of magical properties and, in theory, enough strength to give Lance legs. Hunk normally tried to avoid using this as an ingredient in potions, mostly because it was a dwindling resource, but this was for Lance, so he couldn’t exactly hold back.

Finally, Hunk spotted a little pool and quickly swam towards it, moving low to the ground to make sure he didn’t disturb anything in the cavern.

“Do you ever think it’s weird, looking at it?” Lance asked curiously. “I mean, like…it’s water. But we’re in water, you know?”

“After my twentieth potion, the novelty was lost on me,” Hunk informed, carefully scooping what he could into his vial. It wasn’t much, but it was perfect for what he needed. “Just know that the potions don’t float with the rest of the water because they’re more dense and can’t float.”

“So…is magic dense?” Lance asked curiously and Hunk smiled, putting a cork in the open end of the vial and putting it in his bag. “I mean…that makes sense, right? You put magic in water and it’s dense, so like…magic, is it dense?”

“You make a lot of sense, Lance,” Hunk said, patting his friend on the shoulder before turning to go. “I wouldn’t have an answer to that one.”

“Huh, a question to stump the great Hunk…” Lance mused happily and started swimming after him. However, he must have bumped into something somehow, must have been the ceiling since Lance could never remember how tall he was, but Hunk could already hear the familiar rumble that came when something was about to fall.

Hunk reacted without thinking, taking a hold of Lance’s hand before rushing him out, seeing as the smaller of the two of them was still relatively dazed from hitting his head, just in time before parts of the cave came crashing down. The rocks fell faster than normal, and Hunk guessed it was because of the magic infused water in it, but he was thankful he got Lance out of that safely. He definitely wouldn’t be able to forgive himself if he had gotten Lance hurt going on this stupid adventure.

“Are you alright?” Hunk asked, gripping onto Lance’s upper arms to look him over and make sure nothing had actually hit him when Hunk didn’t notice.

“Yeah, jeez, dude, I didn’t know you had that kind of speed in ya,” Lance chuckled, rubbing the back of his head awkwardly. “I thought the ceiling was a lot higher than that, sorry.” He rubbed against something on his head, flinching as his hand lightly brushed across it.

“Here, let me take a look at that,” Hunk said, swimming behind Lance to get a better look at his head.

“Relax, it’s fine,” Lance assured him, but Hunk didn’t listen, instead gently brushing aside some of Lance’s hair. There was definitely a red spot, still tender since Lance flinched when he touched hit, and it would definitely bruise. “Totally my fault, you don’t have to worry about it.”

“Nope,” Hunk said. “I’ve got something back home that’ll help it heal faster without bruising. If we get there fast enough, you shouldn’t feel much pain…”

“It’s not that big of a deal,” Lance said sheepishly, finally turning around. His face was an adorable shade darker with a blush quickly spreading deeper and Hunk fought back a smile.

Instead, he shook his head. “This happened on my watch, I’ll take care of it, not a big deal. Free of charge, of course.”

“Well, thanks, big guy,” Lance said with a small smile. Hunk nodded happily before starting to swim once again, Lance following quickly behind. Thankfully, that was their last stop anyway. Hunk started listing off all the things he would have to worry about when they got back. First there was making sure he got out the right supplies to help with Lance’s head. That would be an easy application of a cream he had made a little while ago. It helped injuries, but not anything serious or anything that drew blood, so it would be perfect. Then he would have to worry about clearing away all the books around his cauldron to make sure he had enough space, and then finding the spell he was using again…

* * *

This was a problem, Lance was more than ready to admit that. Not, like, a big problem, but a problem nonetheless. Lance hadn’t spent a lot of time with Hunk, especially not after they stopped being able to see each other. He missed Hunk, of course, but that was in the mind of a little kid who only remembered being friends. This…was a little different. Adult Hunk was nothing like little kid friend Hunk.

Adult Hunk was…well, he was a lot taller, a lot bigger. There was definitely some good muscle in there since he was so strong. He was incredibly smart, knowing answers to almost all of Lance’s stupid magic questions as they went about finding all those potion ingredients. He knew his way around the ocean way better than Lance did. Lance needed landmarks everywhere he went otherwise he might get distracted or lost, and yet Hunk seemed to always know where he was. And, on top of that, Lance would be lying to himself if he didn’t think Hunk was attractive as all hell.

He hadn’t noticed it at first, or maybe he blocked it out. They were friends and they were supposed to be friends still, right? Lance must have blinded himself because Hunk was his friend and nothing else, especially with all of this potion business going on. But, really, Hunk was flat out gorgeous. Especially under certain lighting, like the deep blue when they went a big deeper than normal, or the really light blue in the shallows to find coral, the flittering orange of the sunset currently around them.

Lance honestly couldn’t help but be flustered when Hunk held him so close, looking him over for injuries and he could only hope that he played it off alright. Having those strong hands on him, that protective gaze looking him over, the incessant worry to make sure there wouldn’t be a scratch on him…It made Lance feel…pretty nice. Cared for. Welcome. Hell, Lance hadn’t felt uncomfortable for a single second when around Hunk, even when going through creepy witch neighborhoods or inside a dank cave he’d never seen in his life full of magic.

Lance frowned as he followed Hunk through the ocean, anxious to get back to Hunk’s cave and get this over with. He went to Hunk for a reason and that was to meet Keith. He couldn’t get wrapped up having feelings or…whatever for Hunk. So he’d have to keep blocking it out, if he was ever going to be successful trying to woo Keith.

Still…being behind Hunk probably wasn’t the best idea after all…Since this position gave him the perfect vantage point to watch how the muscles in Hunk’s back moved and flexed as he swam expertly through the water. Lance also couldn’t help but watch as Hunk’s bright yellow tentacles, filtered in the orange light, moved gracefully through the water. Lance didn’t exactly get to meet a lot of people without tails to move around and he couldn’t help but find it fascinating. He was just admiring the interesting transition covering the small of Hunk’s back that morphed into his tentacles when, suddenly, they were back at Hunk’s cave.

Lance looked around, slightly startled, but collected himself and waited while Hunk put down all of their supplies and scoured through the bottles that he had set up on the many shelves. Before long, Hunk was back in front of him, lightly pushing Lance down by his shoulders to get better access to his head. Lance forcibly fought back the hot blush that formed once again on his face while he stared at Hunk’s unbearably close chest. This was fine. There were no real feelings going on here.

_Just think about Keith. Think about Keith. Think about Keith shirtless. You like Keith, you’re doing all this for him._

That train of thought did seem to satisfy Lance for a bit (especially the idea of Keith shirtless though he wouldn’t admit that out loud (after all, why were humans so obsessed with covering themselves?)) and he was able to calm himself down. Right, he still liked Keith. He was doing this for him, specifically, because Lance still felt excited thinking about the prince and the butterflies went on rampages in his stomach when he thought about that one day. So…yeah…Lance could do this.

He couldn’t have any feelings for Hunk, he had to focus on one thing at a time.

“There, looks like everything should be good in a bit,” Hunk mused, patting down Lance’s hair once he was finished. It was a cool gel, whatever it was and it felt pretty soothing on the bruise already forming on his head.

“Thanks,” Lance said. “Alright, then, let’s get this started. You are cool to do this now, right?”

“Yeah,” Hunk said slowly, backing away. He flashed a smile but Lance couldn’t help but frown at the sight of the slightly forced display. Still, Hunk turned away too fast for Lance to actually tell anything by it. Hunk started moving stuff around and Lance couldn’t help but hover around him, watching his movements closely as he read from a book he had set out and put everything they had just collected into a cauldron, lit from below by something that Hunk had called fire, but it really didn’t act like the fire Lance had studied that the humans use. Still, it was working, so whatever magic it was, it must have been good.

“How long is this gonna take?” Lance asked curiously. The faster he got to Keith, the faster he could get away from these weird thoughts trying to distract him.

“Not very long,” Hunk hummed, a noise deep in his throat that nearly shattered Lance’s resolve. “Probably just a few more minutes and we’ll be good to go. You sure you’re ready?”

Hunk looked up at Lance, meeting his eyes. Lance blinked, trying to process the sudden question. Of course he was ready, he’d decided on this and he was going to do it. Still, there was some little things that nagged in the back of his mind; the fact that if this actually succeeded, he would possibly leave his life behind, the fact that he won’t even have his voice, meeting Keith actually face-to-face, and now these weird feelings for Hunk he was trying to avoid…

“Yeah, of course I’m ready,” Lance said easily, matching Hunk’s stare. “Have you even met me? I was born ready for something like this.”

Hunk laughed, turning back to the cauldron. “I should’ve known.”

Lance started moving back and forth anxiously behind Hunk while his friend worked. He tried not to make too much noise or move too much, but he couldn’t help it. He just had to get this over with, get his legs, lose his voice, go meet Keith, etc. Just get started and then everything else would fall into place. Force everything into motion.

Hunk cleared his throat and Lance finally glanced back at him to see that Hunk had the little potion in a bottle, whatever liquid inside glowing a light red. Lance swallowed thickly.

“Okay, let’s get started,” Hunk said with a small smile and Lance nodded slowly, swimming closer to him to take the potion. He examined it closer. It moved and acted like water did, but it was an unnatural looking red. There was only a mouthful inside the small vial and Lance nearly guessed that it was going to taste sweet.

“So…how does this work, exactly?” Lance asked. “I just…drink it and it gives me legs and takes away my voice?”

“Essentially,” Hunk offered with a small shrug. “Just…uh…drink it and everything will work out. I won’t let anything bad happen to you, I promise.”

“I trust ya, buddy,” Lance said, patting Hunk’s shoulder with his free hand. He looked at the potion yet again. “So…I can just drink it down here?”

“Yeah, just go ahead,” Hunk said.

Lance hesitated. “Won’t I drown or something? I’m assuming I lose my gills when I get my legs…”

“Nah, just leave everything to me,” Hunk said, rubbing his hands together awkwardly.

“Alright,” Lance said before swirling the liquid in the vial. There was no cap or anything on it, but the liquid stayed at the bottom. Lance took a quick breath before bringing the vial to his lips. He tilted the vial back and the sticky, sweet liquid filled his mouth. He swallowed it quickly, the texture far too thick to actually enjoy. He hadn’t noticed he’d screwed his eyes shut until he opened them, meeting Hunk’s eyes right before an overwhelming feeling of fatigue came over him and his eyes forced themselves shut again.

* * *

Hunk was quick to catch Lance before he sunk to the ground. He had to act quickly in order for this to turn out well and he’d already promised Lance nothing bad would happen to him. So, Hunk quickly grabbed onto a nearby necklace, and kept a solid grip on Lance before taking his leave from the cave. It was pretty late at this point, almost everyone was asleep so this shouldn’t look very weird to many people.

The potion would work relatively quickly. Originally, it was only supposed to give Lance his legs, turn him into a human. But Hunk added something a little extra, to make Lance fall asleep. Hunk had to stealthily steal Lance’s voice from him without him knowing that it wasn’t actually part of the potion.

Before long, they surfaced into the air and Hunk looked over Lance in the faint light that the very tip of the sun provided as it began to slowly peek out for the morning. Hunk had never been above the surface, at least not since he stopped hanging out with Lance so much. While Lance had an intense interest in the world above theirs, Hunk was slightly more hesitant. He didn’t trust humans that much and he liked their underwater world. He didn’t want to wind up wanting to go somewhere he couldn’t, didn’t want to dream his whole life about something he couldn’t have. Lance didn’t seem to have the same thought, spending nearly all of his time dreaming about coming up here.

And watching the sun rise, the remnants of a storm around them in the air, water, and clouds…Hunk could tell why. He normally stayed so close to the bottom of the ocean that he didn’t notice things like this. But the pale warm colors that washed over the ocean around them, chasing away the darkness of the night and the storm. Hunk was so distracted, he nearly forgot about the potion until he felt something that was definitely not Lance’s tail touch him.

Hunk immediately turned back to Lance, and it only took him a few minutes to recover from how absolutely stunning Lance looked in that lighting, and checked him over. Lance was still out cold, but his tail had been completely replaced by legs, without a single trace of scales on him. Even the gills that had previously lined his neck were completely gone. It was…strange, different.

Hunk shook his head and started swimming. From watching Lance enough, he knew, more or less, where Keith’s castle was, and he could do everything he needed to once Lance was safe on land. Hunk swam carefully, making sure that Lance’s head never went under water, and he made it to the beach of the castle before the sun was fully over the horizon. Hunk was able to carefully position Lance on the beach so that he wouldn’t be in any danger and took a deep breath. One last thing and then everything would be out of his hands and into Lance’s.

Hunk sat down on the beach beside Lance, carefully hovering his hand over Lance’s throat. With just a little bit of magic, something in Lance’s throat glowed and Hunk carefully pulled it up, through Lance’s mouth and out. It glowed a bright white as Hunk finally placed it in his hand and he looked back down at Lance, who was still sleeping away.

With a sigh, Hunk pulled out the necklace he’d taken, looking over it. It was a simple shell, but it would do to contain it. Hunk would let it go once Lance either succeeded or failed and it would come back to him. Hunk seriously considered going back on this part of his deal, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it. He looked up at the castle, giant and imposing as it was. No matter how hard Hunk tried, he couldn’t get rid of his own feelings for Lance. He needed to do one thing to try and keep Lance in his life, no matter how terrible he felt about it.

It took only a small bit of magic to put the glowing ball, Lance’s voice, into the necklace. Hunk tied the necklace with a tight knot around his neck before he started back towards the water, scooting far from eloquently along the sand. Before long, he was in the water once again, but he made sure to stay close to the beach, watching over Lance until someone would come by and get him to proper safety.

Hunk barely got a glimpse of the prince as he walked down the steps onto the beach before he ducked under water, shame slowly filling his head.


	4. Chapter 4

Keith was quick to come down the stairs. It was early in the morning, but it was a free day. A day when he didn’t have lessons, didn’t need to shadow his father, he could just relax. And he’d convinced Shiro to take the day off as well. On top of that, Shiro even offered to go to the beach with him. So…he couldn’t help but feel a little excited.

“Slow down!” Shiro called to him, but Keith just offered a wave. They were going to have a picnic and everything. It was going to be a great, relaxing day with his brother and far away from his parents. Shiro laughed as he followed him and Keith barely stifled a laugh as he finally reached the bottom of the stairs, looking out to the sea. Red was already ahead of him, but she seemed to be almost…scared of something.

He stopped in his tracks, however, when he noticed the naked man lying unconscious.

“Oh, my God,” Keith said breathlessly before he started running. “Shiro! Get down here now!”

Keith slid onto his knees beside the man, who was lying on his back. He didn’t look injured…and Keith could pretty much see every inch of his skin. Keith leaned forward to put his ear close to the man’s mouth. He was breathing. Keith sighed with relief. What the hell happened? People don’t just wash up on shores under mostly clear weather without nearly drowning.

“What happened?” Shiro asked, jogging towards them.

“Do I look like I know?” Keith scoffed. “He was just…here. We need to get him inside, he feels kinda cold.”

“Where do you think he came from?” Shiro asked, looking out at the water. Keith followed his gaze. It was clear, no sign of debris…Keith exhaled slowly before slowly turning the man over, onto his stomach before hooking an arm around his shoulders. Shiro was quick to get on the other side and, together, they hoisted him off the ground. He was taller than he looked and his foot dragged a little on Keith’s side. The two quickly went up the stairs and it was only a matter of time before servants started taking notice of them.

Before long, the man was basically ripped from Keith’s hands, but Keith made an effort to keep up with the servants as they rushed to get the man to a bed in a spare room. Shiro left to go tell their parents, but Keith was focused only on this man. Now that he could actually get a better look at him, especially his face…there was something oddly familiar about him. Like Keith had seen him before…in a dream or something. His thoughts weren’t very clear, but Keith just knew that he had to stay close to this stranger.

They set the man up in a room on the first floor, small and meant for less well-to-do guests, but they had already set up a fire and brought water, forcing it down the man’s throat for the time being. Keith just stood there, dumbfounded. He didn’t know what to do, what he was supposed to do. Something in Keith’s mind was screaming at him that there was _something_ about this man he had to remember, but he wasn’t coming up with anything.

“They’re busy,” Shiro said behind him and Keith scoffed. Of course his mom and dad were too busy to worry about someone who washed up out of nowhere.

“I’ll…stay with him,” Keith said. “In case he wakes up. I’ll…uh…keep a bell in case something happens.”

“Alright,” Shiro said. “Sorry today got messed up for you. I know you were excited.”

Keith smiled. “It’s okay. This is an adventure in itself, right?”

“I’ll get him some clothes for when he wakes up,” Shiro said and Keith nodded, moving further into the room to get a chair and set it beside the bed.

He couldn’t help but feel fixated on this man for a reason he couldn’t understand. Sure, he was handsome, sure, Keith had seen him naked. But there was something else. Like if the man just opened up his mouth and spoke, Keith would recognize him, it would feel like they had spent their entire lives together. It was nagging at Keith in the back of his mind. He recognized this man…but how? Why?

* * *

Lance was…extremely disoriented. His memory was fuzzy, but he remembered some stuff about a potion and Hunk…His eyes opened to…white. And air. This was definitely not water, it was too thin, too easy to breathe. And Lance’s tail…it was…separated, sliced in two. He turned his head to the side, only to find Keith’s sleeping face impossibly close to him. Lance’s brain short circuited and all of his thoughts grinded to a halt. Why was Keith…right there?

And then it all clicked.

The potion. Legs. Keith. Lance was really there, doing it. Meeting Keith.

Lance opened his mouth, willing a sound to come out, but it was just…empty. The voice that used to be there, the feeling it created, was completely gone and the feeling sent a shiver down Lance’s spine. So Lance was stuck looking up at the prince who was sitting before him. He was…just as beautiful as Lance remembered. Though a little less…in distress.

He was sleeping peacefully, though it looked like the way his head craned downward was kind of painful. During the accident, Lance couldn’t take in a lot of Keith’s features. The way a frown looked permanently etched into his face, the way his hair hung over his eyes, the way he crossed his legs over each other… It was cute. Lance couldn’t help but smile as he slowly moved to sit upright. He couldn’t just lay around all day if he wanted this to work. He had three days and that was it. He would need to act quickly.

With Lance’s sudden movements, Keith started waking up and Lance found himself awestruck as he was met with Keith’s intense violet eyes. He didn’t get a chance to see Keith’s eyes very close last time…And he’d never seen Keith’s face this close. Both of them were too surprised to look into the other’s eyes that they were speechless for a long time, just breathing and staring at each other.

Keith was the first one to speak (especially because Lance couldn’t), clearing his throat into the silence. “Uh…I’m sorry. Um, I’m…Keith. Do you…remember what happened to you?”

Lance had to think for a moment, trying to figure out what angle he was going for. Damsel in distress who couldn’t remember anything or some like traumatized shipwreck survivor. He could go for damsel in distress, that could work out relatively easily. So, Lance simply shook his head, slowly.

“We found you washed up on the beach,” Keith said. “Do you remember anything? Like a ship? Or home? We can help get you back home?” Lance just shook his head again. Keith sighed slightly. “How about your name? Can you remember your name?”

Lance perked up at that. The idea of Keith actually saying his name was…amazing. Hearing that voice, now currently not drowning and choking on water…say his actual name. Lance got so excited he actually tried to speak, but nothing came out of his throat and Keith leaned a little closer, curious now.

“Can you speak?” Keith asked.

Lance bit his lip, shaking his head ‘no.’

Keith frowned at that. “I guess I was wrong…” he muttered and Lance couldn’t help but lean forward. Did Keith remember anything that had happened that day? Lance’s voice as he tried to help him out? Lance felt his heart sink at that. What did Keith remember? Was he looking for Lance? For the person that saved his life?

Before Lance could try any other communication, the door opened, revealing Keith’s older brother, who seemed surprised at the scene he walked into. Keith leaned away sharply, looking at the ground and Lance pouted.

“He’s awake,” Shiro said, relief laced in his voice. “Are you alright?” he asked, looking right at Lance.

Lance nodded carefully, not sure exactly how he would go about this. He vastly underestimated the challenges that came with not being able to talk.

“He, uh, can’t speak,” Keith said, standing up. “And he can’t remember anything.”

“Oh,” Shiro said. “That makes things a little more difficult. We can spread the news around and hopefully we can find someone who knows who he is.” He turned back to Lance. “How about you get dressed and we can get you some food. How does that sound?” He motioned to some clothes that were resting at the foot of the bed in front of him and Lance became aware of the fact that he was, by human standards, completely naked. From what he could tell, humans viewed looking at skin as an intimate thing. And Keith had just seen literally all of his skin. Well, that thought made Lance a little happy.

Lance nodded happily, his stomach already rumbling. He was so excited about getting this started and spending the day with Hunk that he forgot to eat. He could probably figure out how clothes worked easily enough on his own. And maybe some time alone could help him figure out what, exactly he’s going to do. He had to get Keith to kiss him…

Keith and Shiro filed out of the room and Lance, curiously, went to the door. He could faintly hear their voices just outside and he couldn’t stop himself.

“…what I told you about what happened that night?” Keith asked quietly.

“Do you think…?” Shiro asked.

“No, he can’t…talk, but I…” Keith hesitated. “I don’t know.”

“Well, he is going to be staying with us for a while,” Shiro said and Lance let out a huff as they started walking away, making it harder to hear. “Maybe you’ll figure something out? Or move past your…”

Lance let out a noiseless groan but turned to look at the room. He knew a little bit about the way humans lived, but not all that much. He’d seen pictures about how houses were set up, more or less how humans used them…but it was still a little overwhelming. The stuff on the bed was so soft, so were the clothes. Lance still didn’t understand why humans were so obsessed with covering themselves. But just based on who reserved Keith was already acting, Lance was assuming that walking around completely naked probably wouldn’t be the best idea.

So, taking a deep breath, Lance picked up the clothes. It only took him a few minutes to figure out which was the shirt and which was the pants.

* * *

Hunk was…anxious. Yeah, that was the word for it. His own thoughts had been nagging at him since the moment he left Lance. Since he tricked Lance. Since he betrayed Lance’s trust. It was terrible. And now he couldn’t stop himself from staring at his little mirror, which he had just infused with the last spare drop of that magic water, which finally enabled him to hear voices through it. He was staring, watching as Lance and Keith had their first interaction, and he was getting nervous. Incredibly, incredibly nervous. And he felt like more and more of a terrible person the more he saw Lance deflate when he couldn’t speak.

On top of that, Hunk severely underestimated Keith. He was already slightly jealous of this prince because Lance was already head-over-heels for him, but now Hunk had to compete with stunning looks like that? Keith was incredibly handsome, practically glowing. But what else could you expect from a prince? He was directly on par with Lance. They were perfect for each other.

“Hey, Hunk!” Pidge’s voice filtered in and Hunk tensed, too panicked to think clearly at the surprise visit of Lance’s friend. So, Hunk swiftly turned around, firmly covering the mirror with his back as he regarded his new visitor. “You’ve seen Lance, right? He hasn’t been around for a while and I assumed he wouldn’t be that much of an asshole to leave without telling me.”

“Uh…yeah, he’s already…” Hunk said, glancing upwards.

Pidge groaned. “That jerk. Is he at least safe, do you know? What happened? I just don’t want him to make a stupid mistake.”

“He’s fine,” Hunk blurted out, already feeling nervous. Pidge was apparently more perceptive than Lance and was already narrowing her eyes suspiciously. “Honestly, he’s totally cool.”

“You’ve been acting weird the whole time I've known you, at least,” Pidge said bluntly. “What is it, do you love him or something?” Hunk flushed. “Oh, my God.”

“No!” Hunk protested. “Nope, there’s nothing going on. I’m just helping out an old friend with what he wants.”

Pidge raised a brow. “I don’t think I trust you.”

Hunk was about to say something, but he was cut off by the sound coming from the mirror behind him. People were talking, but the words were muffled by his back and Hunk hunched his shoulders a little higher. Pidge just stared at him, the muffled voices continuing to talk.

“Hunk,” Pidge finally spoke. “What’s behind you?”

“Uh…nothing?” Hunk offered nervously.

“Hunk,” Pidge said bluntly.

Hunk winced, but slowly moved away, looking guiltily at the mirror. It seemed that Lance had figured out how to get dressed and he was already making moves towards Keith and Hunk couldn’t help but feel a little surge of jealousy spark through him. They were in a dining hall, by the looks of it. Pidge swam closer to it to get a good look before looking at Hunk.

“You’re spying on him?” Pidge asked. Hunk nodded slowly. “You had this mirror here the last time I came. Have you been spying on him before?”

“Maybe,” Hunk muttered.

“Dude.”

“I’m sorry, honestly,” Hunk blurted out. “I’m just…really awkward and he’s kind of got his thing for Keith so why should I try and tell him that I’ve liked him since we pretty much first met and he’s obviously way cooler than me and I’m just some weird guy that lives in a cave so how could I-”

“Hunk,” Pidge said clearly. “You could’ve told him. You’ve known him longer than I have, he’s not an asshole.”

“Well, I mean, it’s too late now,” Hunk offered with a small shrug, motioning to the mirror. “Even with all those limitations, he’s probably gonna end up with Keith, anyway.”

Pidge crossed her arms over her chest as he looked at the mirror for a bit before turning a harsh stare back to Hunk. “Did Lance really have to lose his voice for this to work?”

“What? Yeah, of course,” Hunk lied with a scoff. He leaned awkwardly against the wall of the cave, knowing full well that he was getting worse and worse at lying the more he was put under pressure.

“Are you serious?” Pidge demanded. “Like, I get what you’re saying, okay? You’ve got a crush on him or whatever and he’s got a crush on some other guy. You wanna make it hard for him to get with that. Whatever. But Lance trusted you.”

“I know that,” Hunk muttered. “I feel…I feel terrible about it, okay? I’ve made my mistakes…”

Pidge sighed. “If Lance fails and comes back here pouting and whining that he couldn’t do it, I’ll blame you.”

“That’s…entirely fair,” Hunk admitted.

“But,” Pidge said clearly, “you’ve got a mirror, and you’ve got your magic. I have an idea. You can make up for your mistake by helping Lance out. Or, at the very least, helping me help Lance out.”

Hunk hesitated. He hated himself so much for hesitating. After all, he got rid of Lance’s voice for a reason. Still, would it really feel like he had ‘won’ Lance if it ended like this. Regardless, he shouldn’t even view Lance as something to ‘win’ but Hunk still really, really liked him. This was…very stressful. He couldn’t even bring himself to hate Keith. Sure, he was jealous, but he could hardly call his feelings hatred. Why were feelings like this so difficult to navigate?

Hunk looked back at the mirror, looking at Lance’s lovesick smile as he watched Keith talk. Even on land, when his hair didn’t move with the current and where the sun couldn’t dance across his skin as well, he was still stunning. Even when Lance couldn’t speak, just his posture spoke volumes and he had no problems expressing his emotions. He looked so happy. With Keith. That was why Hunk agreed to all of this in the first place. To help make Lance happy. And he was happy, even though Hunk tried to sabotage him.

“Yeah, I’ll help,” Hunk said.

Pidge nodded. “Alright then, Operation: Kiss the Boy is underway!”


	5. Chapter 5

Keith wasn’t exactly used to meeting new people. He normally liked to stay secluded in the castle and read and do his studying when his parents forced him to. Now, there was a stranger in the castle. One that he had to spend time with because his parents were busy. At least he had Shiro, but that still didn’t stop the awkwardness of it. So, Keith sat at the table, beside Shiro, twiddling his thumbs as he waited for their new guest to stop being naked and join them for lunch.

Keith had been so sure that he recognized that man, at least somewhat. But…he couldn’t speak. He couldn’t…Keith fought back a groan as a headache came upon him. His memories of the night he almost drowned were so scattered. Whatever saved his life….the face, the voice…they were all vague, but he’d recognize them when he saw them. And he thought he recognized their new guest but…

Keith was shaken out of his own thoughts when the servants announced their entry by clearing their own throats and Keith immediately stood up to greet the guest, along with Shiro. Keith had to admit, the man did look pretty good with clothes on. Shiro had apparently guessed his size right, the clothes perfectly showed all of the man’s angles quite well. He looked good, even with just a plain white shirt, blue jacket, and slacks. The man, on the other hand, looked awkward about it, fiddling with the cuffs on the jacket.

“Glad to see you walking around alright,” Shiro said and Keith nodded in agreement.

The man, who seemed a lot more animated now that he hadn’t just woken up, nodded excitedly. He had a wide smile on his face as he looked around the room in wonder. It was a cute, childlike curiosity that Keith couldn’t help but admire. He seemed so…full of life and excited. For someone who just washed up on a shore, he also seemed to be in perfect condition. His skin was smooth and bright, his hair was a little tangled, but nothing too bad. Keith couldn’t help but be curious about what happened to him. What made that man lose his memory like that?

The man walked towards Shiro and Keith, albeit with shaky legs and looked between them, apparently not sure what to do next. He glanced at the place setting in front of Keith and Shiro, on the other side of the table, before looking up at the two for direction.

“I’m Shiro,” Shiro said to disrupt the silence. “I’m sure Keith already introduced himself. You must be hungry, we can figure everything out as we go, sound good to you?”

The man nodded and the three sat down. Keith watched as the man stared down at the plate of food in confusion. Keith was about to say something, offer his help, when the man quickly picked up the fork with a bright look of recognition and proceeded to run it through his hair like a comb. Keith couldn’t help it, a barking laugh shook through him and the man stopped immediately, looking at Keith with wide eyes, which led to Keith slapping a hand over his mouth while he continued to laugh.

“I’m sorry,” Keith blurted out in the middle of his laughter. “That’s…”

The man looked at him, his head tilted adorably to the side and Keith felt _something_ jolt through him as he tried to control himself. Shiro looked at him with a mix of happiness and confusion and Keith carefully met his gaze, not sure what came over him.

“We’ll, uh, have someone get you a new fork,” Shiro said as the man looked down at his fork, with a slight frown. Shiro demonstrated for him how you were supposed to properly use a fork just as a servant swooped in and replaced the man’s fork for him. The man nodded before proceeding to stab a potato wedge almost violently and Keith couldn’t help but laugh a little still.

“We need to figure out what to call you,” Keith said after he calmed himself down. “For…uh…spreading the news. And just so it’s easier to talk to you. Do you remember your name?”

The man nodded happily.

“Can you write it?” Shiro asked and the man furrowed his brow before shaking his head slowly. “Then this will be a little difficult.” The man nodded and finally took a bite of the potato slice he picked up. He perked up at that and resorted to all but shoving the food in the plate into his mouth. Keith fought back another laugh at risk of Shiro glaring at him.

“Is it something you can act out?” Keith asked and the man paused his eating, swallowing before he nodded thoughtfully. Before anyone could say anything else, the man stood up and held out his right hand, his chair nearly falling over with the force he moved with, closing his hand around an invisible object. The man then proceeded to thrust his hand forward dramatically.

“Is it a weapon?” Shiro asked and the man nodded happily.

“What, like a knife?” Keith blurted out before he could stop himself. What was wrong with him today? Normally he was able to keep his thoughts to himself and control his emotions. But something about this man’s excited nature was rubbing off onto him. The man shook his head, thrusting his hand out again, forcefully.

“A…sword?” Shiro guessed and the man shook his head.

Keith rested his chin on his hand and he tried to think. A name that was also a weapon? The man seemed pretty adamant on the thrusting motion and once made a motion to show that the weapon was long. Keith hummed as Shiro continuously tried different weapons.

“A lance?” Keith guessed. The man nearly launched himself over the table, hands planted on the wood with a wide smile on his face. “Lance? Is that your name?”

The man, Lance, nodded his head vigorously, his smile looking like his face was going to split in two. It was…a great smile. Capable of lighting up an entire room.

“Lance,” Keith repeated with a small smile of his own.

“Well, it’s nice to meet you, Lance,” Shiro said. “Do you remember your last name?”

Lance shook his head, taking his seat again. He was still smiling and Keith couldn’t help but smile, too, leaning closer.

“Well,” Keith said, “no matter what, we at least have a name now. We’ll figure out where you came from, Lance. And what happened to you.”

Lance nodded slowly, staring down at his food. Keith wasn't sure, but he thought he could see a slight blush dust across his cheeks.

“Well, I’ll, uh, leave you guys alone for a bit,” Shiro said, standing up. He hadn’t eaten much, but then again neither had Keith. “I’ll get work done getting people to look for Lance’s family. Can you handle keeping him company, Keith?”

“Uh, yeah, sure,” Keith said. “If you’re okay with that, Lance.” Lance didn’t even hesitate to nod happily.

* * *

This was, hands down, the best day of Lance’s life. Not only did he hear Keith laugh, a lot, but also he heard Keith say his name. Keith guessed Lance’s name, and it sounded way better in his voice than Lance expected. Lance couldn’t stop himself from leaning forward as he listened to Keith talk. He was going on about what they had in the castle that Lance could use, but Lance honestly wasn’t listening much. He’d long since finished eating, but Keith just kept talking. Lance was more than happy to listen to him talk. It was nothing compared to seeing him laugh. It damn near made Lance want to try brushing his hair with the whatchamacallit again. (He could have sworn that was what humans used that for, but whatever.)

Lance wanted to say something to him, hum along to let Keith know that he was listening. Lance absently tapped his finger on the table. He couldn’t just sit here all day, he had to think of something for them to do. The sooner they could get that kiss, the sooner Lance could talk to him, properly talk to him and get to know him better. Maybe they could go outside, maybe to that little beach. Or maybe…there had to be a town or something further into the land. Maybe he could get Keith to show him around…

Sadly, Lance couldn’t even try to suggest anything before two new people entered the dining room. Keith was quick to stand up and so Lance followed suit, not quite sure what customs humans, especially not human royalty, went through to greet people. Lance had only seen glimpses of Keith’s parents before, so it was still kind of weird to see them in person. Keith seemed to immediately shut down in their presence, lowering his gaze and immediately going quiet.

Lance held his head high as the two walked into the room, closely regarding their son and their new guest.

“Shiro told us the news,” Keith’s mother said with a faint smile. “And some of the servants informed us that we were able to figure out your name.”

Lance nodded carefully.

“Well, Lance, it is nice to meet you, I’m sorry to hear about your circumstances,” Keith’s dad said. “I’m also sorry to say that we probably won’t be able to be around much, as we’re very busy. At the very least, Shiro should be able to keep you company on most days. Prince Keith has quite a few duties to attend to on a regular basis.”

Lance narrowed his eyes slightly. He didn’t like these parents at all. Why couldn’t Keith just tell him all that himself? And why didn’t Shiro have as much work to do as Keith? But, still, Lance nodded, glancing at Keith, who kept his eyes cast down and stayed quiet. Well, Lance certainly wasn’t expecting to deal with family drama, but this he could work with. Keith deserved so much better.

“For now, Keith, I know we promised you a free day, but your father has started in making deals with another kingdom and we think this could be a good learning experience for you,” Keith’s mother said. “The servants can take care of Lance.”

“Alright,” Keith said, his voice suddenly changed, laced with disappointment. “I’ll meet with you in a few minutes.”

“Don’t be too late, we have a lot to go over,” Keith’s father said and the two turned to leave. Lance frowned, glancing at Keith as the door closed.

“I’m sorry,” Keith said, pushing the chair in with a heavy sigh. “I’m sure Shiro will be back soon, I hope this isn’t too much trouble for you.”

Just looking at Keith’s face made Lance’s heart break. He wanted to do something, anything to help Keith out. And maybe Lance knew just the thing… Lance smiled as he straightened up with renewed vigor, walking towards Keith and slowly and carefully took a hold of Keith’s wrist. Keith looked up at him with a furrowed brow and Lance just smiled, nodding in the opposite direction that his parents went.

“Are you trying to convince me to play hooky on my own parents?” Keith asked. Lance shrugged, lightly pulling Keith with him. “I’m inclined to say no, but…you could convince me. If you were going in the direction of the front door. Where do you even want to go?” Lance shrugged again. He didn’t care where they went, as long as it was far away and they could spend time together. This could kill two birds with one stone; get Keith to relax and spend time bonding with him. Lance could get that kiss in no time at all.

Keith sighed, looking down at where Lance was holding onto his arm. “Well, my parents would never think to look for me in the next town over. I…normally don’t go outside much.” Lance nodded eagerly, looking at Keith for further guidance. “Alright…But I can’t do it more than once.” Lance nodded happily and Keith smiled slightly. “Follow me.”

* * *

“We’re gonna think of a great plan anytime now, I’m sure of it,” Pidge mused, swimming back and forth as she tried to think.

“I mean, it looks like Lance is having no problems when it comes to this,” Hunk mused, watching the mirror. Lance had actually convinced the prince to shirk his own responsibilities and they were in the middle of commandeering a carriage and horse to run away from Keith’s parents. Honestly, Hunk found it kind of interesting to watch, completely disregarding any other work he currently had to work on.

“Well, yeah, without Lance’s loud mouth to make things worse, I’m sure he’s doing fine,” Pidge said. “But that doesn’t mean you get out of this.”

“I know, I know,” Hunk said. He never noticed it before, maybe because he was more focused on Lance, but Keith looked really cute when he was smiling and laughing. It looked like Lance brought out something in him, something like a silly side. And, for a prince, he looked pretty good. Really good, actually.

This was…confusing.

“Hunk, hey,” Pidge said and Hunk blinked, just noticing that she was far closer than he thought she was. “You’re zoning out. It looks like they’re going into town, which we can get to from the ocean. How about we follow them?”

“Are you sure we should?” Hunk asked hesitantly. “That’s kind of an…intimate moment don’t you think?”

“Now you feel guilty intervening on their relationship?” Pidge asked.

“Well, yeah,” Hunk said. “It’s not like I want to intervene while it’s happening.”

“You just want to create obstacles before it starts,” Pidge said bluntly and Hunk bowed his head before looking back at the mirror. Keith was still laughing as Lance tried to take control of the horses, which Hunk was pretty sure Lance had never seen before. They proceeded to narrowly avoid crashing into a tree after Keith regained control.

“We haven’t even been able to come up with details for Operation: Kiss the Boy,” Hunk said. “What do you plan on doing, force the two of them together and hope their lips meet?”

“Well, you’re the one with your magic,” Pidge said. “I don’t understand what it is. Just, like, provide some mood lighting or something, if you don’t want to directly intervene. Or…I dunno, maybe you could give Lance his voice back.”

“Uh…” Hunk mused, thinking about the necklace of Lance’s voice currently around his neck. If he gave Lance his voice back randomly, Lance would know that Hunk lied. That Hunk made things harder for him. Then Lance probably wouldn’t trust him anymore. “I can’t.”

“Why not?” Pidge asked impatiently.

“Well, I don’t have it,” Hunk lied, hoping he could actually convince her this time. “The spell I used just has it disappear for a while and then come back. It’ll get to him when the potion wears off, either in the three days or when he gets the kiss.”

“Alright…” Pidge hummed. “Well, then the least you can do is provide mood lighting with a spell. So, come on, we’re starting Operation: Kiss the Boy whether you like it or not.”

“Okay, okay,” Hunk said, moving away from the mirror for the time being. “We need a plan of attack before we go, though. I need more than mood lighting as a guide. Besides, it’s not like I have a spell to just make things romantic.”

“I mean, you have a spell to take away someone’s voice and give them legs,” Pidge offered. “Doesn’t seem too weird to me.”

“Are you ever going to let me forget about this?” Hunk asked.

“Probably not,” Pidge said happily. “Maybe if you can get Lance to forgive you. Because, for sure, I’m telling him about this when he’s done with Keith.”

“Please don’t,” Hunk blurted out.

“Dude, if you really care about Lance, then you shouldn’t keep secrets like this,” Pidge said. “Besides, I say so and I don’t think you wanna cross me.”

“I mean, I guess,” Hunk muttered. She was small, but something told Hunk he didn’t want to see her angry. Plus, she was apparently into making technology, something Hunk was interested in, but not that he could actually study because of magic. Who knew what kind of things she built on her own. Plus, she could easily just tell Lance whether or not Hunk wanted her to.

“Now, we’re gonna swim over to town, follow them, and figure out the details of Operation: Kiss the Boy on the way,” Pidge said pointedly. “And once they’re alone and everything, you’re supplying the mood and you’re gonna help them kiss. Wait, if he does manage to kiss Keith, does that mean he really won’t be able to come back underwater?”

“I’ll need to make another potion, but…” Hunk mused, “I could give him his fins back. If he wants them. It’s just not possible to do it indefinitely. If he succeeds…he will have to choose. And that all depends on if it is True Love in the first place. Who knows.”

Pidge paused. “Well, we’ll have him figure that out in the future. Don’t make me regret bringing him to you. And maybe he’ll be able to forgive you for doing all of this to him just for fun.”

“It wasn’t for fun,” Hunk protested, following her out.

“No, yeah, I forgot, this is just how you flirt,” Pidge scoffed, swimming ahead of Hunk.

Hunk pouted. “It’s not how I flirt.” It was just how he…tried to separate his crush and his crush’s crush.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: this chapter contains someone experiencing an anxiety/panic attack due to a trigger. There is also general anxiety mostly throughout Keith's section. To avoid the attack, skip everything from "Just when Keith allowed his eyes to close" to the next page break, then you should be fine.

Lance was pretty much impossibly happy. He never expected, in his wildest dreams, that he would be standing beside Keith, looking at him as the sun set around them. Keith had brought them to the village, but it was a lot later in the day than Lance expected, which meant he had to amp up his game. He stuck close to Keith as they walked through the town (turns out walking on two legs wasn’t all that hard, just took some practice alone in that room so he couldn’t embarrass himself) and listened to everything Keith had to say. Apparently, he had a lot of pent up feelings that he needed to get out and Lance was more than happy to be the recipient of such words.

Keith let out a long sigh. “I sometimes just don’t even want to be the prince anymore.” Lance stopped walking, looking at him with a little worry on his face. Keith just scoffed with a wave of his hand. “I’m just…rambling, don’t worry about me, it’s fine.”

Lance shook his head. Obviously, Keith wasn’t really fine and it was definitely something to worry about. He talked for ages about how his parents didn’t listen to him and how Shiro was better at all the prince stuff than him and Lance got the feeling that he was itching to run away. But, still, Keith wanted to change the subject. Maybe Lance could get him to forget his worries, even for a little bit.

Lance looked around hurriedly as Keith started deflating next to him, until he caught sight of a man hooking up a little fishing boat to a dock and Lance’s eyes lit up. He gripped onto Keith’s arm, pulling him along as he headed straight for the man. Keith sputtered, but followed regardless, and Lance stopped pointing at the boat excitedly while looking at Keith.

“Uh…you want to…go on the water?” Keith asked and Lance nodded.

“Is there anything I can do for you, sirs?” the man asked hesitantly, looking at the weird duo they made. It didn’t look like he recognized Keith, which was pretty good. No one recognized Keith. Did he just not go outside much at all? It didn’t seem right for someone like him, but…

Lance pulled a little more on Keith’s sleeve until he relented. “Um, yes, actually,” Keith said, rummaging in his pocket. “I know this might sound strange, but could we…borrow your boat? I-I can pay you and we’ll bring it back when we’re done.”

Keith held out his hand, offering their currency with his free hand, since Lance had assumed control of Keith’s other arm, and the man looked at them with a confused look. Lance bounced between his legs, hoping that he would let them have his boat, even for a little bit. This would kill two birds with one stone; he’d get Keith to relax a bit and forget about what’s bothering him and he could get a kiss out of it. At the very least, Lance would get to spend alone time with Keith, so it was a win-win situation.

With just a little bit of negotiating, Keith actually got permission to steal the boat and Lance all but jumped inside. It was weird not being in the water, but floating on a boat, but he got used to it relatively quickly. Keith, on the other hand, was standing at the dock, holding tightly onto the rope as he unwound it. Lance furrowed a brow, leaning towards Keith. What was wrong? He looked so hesitant to get into the boat, almost…afraid?

Lance held out his hand for Keith, trying to shake it close to Keith’s face. He seemed to shake himself out of whatever reverie he was stuck in, but he still looked scared.

“It’s…nothing, don’t worry about it,” Keith said, shaking his head. He stared at the boat for another long second before getting in, across from Lance, and picked up the oars. He was tense, his shoulders tight, but he was curling in on himself. Something was wrong. “Uh…any chance you remember how to row a boat?” Keith asked.

Admittedly, Lance didn’t know, but it was easy to figure out, and he wanted Keith to relax, so he took the oars and started moving. It was actually easy to get the hang of, turns out watching humans from underwater had it’s advantages. He couldn’t help but be a little smug as he moved, but it was wiped away as he looked back at Keith, who had his shoulders hunched while he stared at the floor of the boat.

Lance frowned and stopped his rowing, leaning down to meet Keith’s eyes.

“Don’t worry about me, I-I’m fine,” Keith said, shaking his head. Lance shook his head right back and Keith gave him a weak smile. “It’s nothing to worry about. You wanted to take a boat out, so…uh…we’re out.”

Lance leaned back. Keith didn’t want to talk about it. Well, Lance would just have to try harder, but maybe not while they were so close to the town, in plain sight. Lance spotted an area that looked like a marsh a little ways off and made his way over there. For a second, on the horizon, he saw the glimpse of a familiar, green tail. Way too big for a normal fish this close to humans. Lance all but froze at the sight, but tried to keep his cool.

No way. There was no way she would…

Then Lance saw something else. A tentative head poking up over the water before ducking back down. Lance would recognize that head of brown hair anywhere.

Pidge.

* * *

People might say that breathing doesn’t actually help when it comes to anxiety attacks, but it at least gave Keith something to focus on and for that much he was happy. He didn’t look out into the water, just at the wood of the boat. Lance was rowing rhythmically, keeping them at a steady pace and Keith nearly flinched every time he heard the rush of water moving them forward. They would minutely tilt every now and then and he nearly screamed every time. Just…breathe…He could do this. This was what Lance wanted, maybe this could get it out of his system. Keith was so interested in the water, maybe this would set him straight.

He watched as the wood rocked, every blink giving him images of the ship falling apart in the storm. He could do this. This was fine. More deep breaths. Keith moved his hands away from the wood of his seat, knowing it would just make Lance worry if he stayed this tense and he felt blood return to his fingers. How hard had he been holding onto it?

Keith made the daring effort to look up, at Lance, who turned his head away, obviously having been staring at him just before. Lance looked behind Keith, keeping their direction steady. He looked like he wanted to say something. He always looked like he wanted to say something. But there was no way to get all those words out. Keith swallowed thickly before looking back down, at the wood. He couldn’t look at the water. That would be a huge mistake.

Eventually, the boat stopped and Lanced put the oars on the floor before leaning closer to Keith. Keith, for all his effort, looked up and immediately scooted away. He couldn’t handle someone figuring out that he was this panicky. No one could know, he just had to stay calm and keep it hidden. Lance looked worried, furrowing his brow like he wanted to ask a question. Keith just turned his head to look away, met with the sight of a…tree. Oh, Lance brought them to the marsh. They were…alone. In the swampy, waist deep water, with trees blocking out the town.

“Why’d you take us here?” Keith asked curiously, glancing around. When he looked back at Lance, at that concerned stare that seemed to gaze into his soul, Keith swallowed thickly. There was something about that familiar look in those blue eyes that reminded him of something, calmed him down even slightly. Keith wanted to say something, wanted to explain why he was shutting down just because they got on the water, but he couldn’t get anything past his throat.

And then, through some horrible coincidence, something bumped their boat. Hard. It only hit Keith’s end, nearly turning the boat in the process. Keith let out a scream, absolutely terrified of plunging into the cold water again, as he tumbled forward, right into Lance, who barely managed to stay on the boat. Keith held tightly onto Lance’s shoulders, burying his face in his chest as he tried to breathe regularly again. It could have happened again. He could have fallen and almost drowned. Again!

“Don’t let me fall in,” Keith whispered out. “Please.”

Lance’s hands tentatively went to hug Keith back, running a hand over his back while the other stayed secured at his neck. It felt…safe…right…warm…familiar.

They stayed like that for a while. Minutes passed as Keith tried to control his heart once again before he finally looked up at Lance, who looked right back at him, his face practically expressionless, but the worry was definitely still there.

“I…uh…” Keith muttered, slowly sitting upright, but terrified of rocking the boat further. He cleared his throat as he took his own seat back. “Sorry.”

Lance shook his head, leaning closer to him. He wanted to know what was wrong, that much was clear, but…Keith couldn’t just come out and say it. So…Keith just shook his head and Lance frowned, leaning even closer.

“If you make me fall in, I’ll never forgive you,” Keith said, leaning back. He didn’t want to disturb the delicate balance of the boat they were on, lest something happen again. “Look, thank you…for, uh…being there to catch me. But, there’s nothing else to say. Okay?”

Lance hesitated.

Keith groaned. “It’s not a big deal, okay? It’s…personal.”

Lance slowly placed his hand on Keith’s knee. Keith watched it happen, swallowing as he felt the touch. His heart was no longer thumping in his ears, so that was a good sign. Lance kept his eye contact before nodding slowly, but he didn’t stop their contact. Keith was feeling all different kinds of nervous; terrified of falling out of the boat, anxious about being alone with a stranger, afraid of what his parents were going to do when they got back, and now…something was turning his stomach into knots as he stared back at Lance in the silence.

Lance wasn’t going to ask questions, he would just let it be. But he was right there, supportive, and not rocking the boat further. It was…nice. Keith smiled faintly and Lance smiled in return. Keith bit his lip, glancing down at the floor for a bit. Lance wasn’t about to move, and well, Keith was still feeling those butterflies in his stomach. Maybe…that meant something? Keith had been locked up since the accident and even before that, he didn’t let himself pay much attention to anyone else. He didn’t want to be prince, he didn’t want to be married, it was all just easier. But this…

This was still easy. This right here, letting himself feel this and, hell, maybe feeling something for Lance. It felt good, even. So, Keith leaned forward, slowly, glancing at Lance’s lips as he licked his own. He’d made his intentions clear. Lance glanced down at Keith’s lips as well and a small smile perched on his lips as he slowly leaned forward as well. So, that was the decision then. Keith swallowed thickly, feeling the butterflies reach all the way to his toes. At least, like this, he didn’t feel any other kinds of nervous.

Just when Keith allowed his eyes to close, something else bumped the boat, but this time a lot harder, and on the side. Keith had no time to react before the boat turned over and he was plunged into the cool water. Immediately, panic seized him and he froze. His first instinct was to take in a sharp breath, and he felt himself choke on the water. It only took another second before something grabbed him and dragged him up to the surface.

He coughed and sputtered sucking in breath before hyperventilating. He was in the water. He was going to drown. He was going to die. Oh, God. This couldn’t be happening. He could barely see anything, his vision tunneling as he looked at the water just below his face. He was going to die. He was going to die. He was going to die.

Two hands gripped onto his shoulders and shook him. Keith looked up, into blue eyes. The mer…no, wait. It was just Lance. He was right there, holding him up, above the water. Lance slowly started to stand, and so did Keith and both of them stood to their full heights, the water lapping against their stomachs. Keith felt his entire body trembling as he forced back the tears that nearly demanded all of his attention. His mind was still running at an impossibly fast pace.

“Get me onto land,” Keith demanded, gripping so hard onto Lance’s shirt he was surprised he didn’t hurt his hand. “Now.”

Lance nodded before moving to the boat. It had capsized, but it was perfectly fine. Who knew if the fish that kept attacking them was still in the water. Keith refused to let go of Lance until the boat was turned back onto its proper orientation and Lance had to help him up. For Lance’s credit, he kept the boat pretty stable and made sure Keith was safe and sitting before he ducked back underwater. He was soaking wet and the shivering refused to stop, nor the thoughts. He could still drown out here. He never should have come out onto the water. He was actually going to die the time.

Lancecame back up just a bit later with the two oars in hand, throwing them onto the little boat before climbing up himself. With no one to keep the boat steady, it rocked a bit and Keith immediately held onto the sides with both of his hands as tightly as he could, but his fingers trembled so badly his grip was weak. Lance offered a tentative smile before he started rowing. Keith let out a shaky breath as they left that area and went back towards town. Towards dry land. Towards safety. Keith wanted to just run to the castle, slam his door closed, and deal with this on his own, in actual privacy.

* * *

Hunk hesitantly followed the boat above him, the sun only just beginning to set, Pidge already ahead of the boat. Hunk couldn’t believe that they were doing this, following Lance and Keith as they went about their business, alone together. It looked like they were going towards a marsh area, where it would get pretty shallow, but they could still follow. This was a bad idea, but Hunk couldn’t back down now.

Pidge stopped, letting the boat go ahead of her, watching as the boat went under the trees. She seemed to be thinking, so Hunk hesitated. The longer he was far away from Lance and Keith, the better. He didn’t understand what was going on through his head, but he knew he didn’t want to go anywhere near them.

“Okay, you go in there, do you’re thing,” Pidge ordered. “I’ll stay here, see if I can trust you to do what you have to.”

“You want me to just go in there and make them kiss on my own?” Hunk asked, terrified.

Pidge rolled her eyes. “Don’t worry about it, you can do this. Hell, you don’t even have to _get_ them to kiss, just set the mood so that the idea’s there. They have three days, right?”

“I guess,” Hunk mused, looking into the marsh. “I don’t know about this, Pidge.”

“I mean, I could easily go over, poke my head out and just _tell Lance that you lied to him_.”

“I’m going, I’m going,” Hunk grumbled, swimming ahead. He left her behind as he swam forward, only to find that the boat hadn’t gotten that much further head. The water was murky and fairly shallow, so Hunk had to be careful. He poked his head out of the water to listen to the conversation. It was quiet, silent. Finally, Keith spoke.

Hunk hesitated, but he let out a shaky breath. He could do this. Just…a little nudge. And he could leave. Just a little nudge. So, Hunk did just that. He rammed up against the boat, lifting it a little in the air, before letting it fall back down. Immediately, there was a scream and Hunk regretted every moment of his life as he ducked back under water. Did he make it worse? What did he do that made Keith worry so much? Now Hunk just felt cruel.

But, when he poked his head back up, they were actually talking. Well, Keith was talking, Lance was communicating with gestures. Then, Hunk made the mistake of swimming away slightly and looking back, so he could see them. They were leaning close to each other and getting closer, Keith’s eyes were closing.

They were really, actually about to kiss.

Hunk panicked, he had no idea what came over him, but he couldn’t see them kiss. There were too many emotions for him to pick up on, but he knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that they couldn’t kiss. Lance’s voice would have to return to him, Hunk would have to let him return to the ocean, tell the truth. And…Hunk would have to deal with whatever emotion was going on inside him because that sure as hell wasn’t jealousy. It just…made more sense for him to have a crush on Lance and that be the end of it.

So, Hunk made the best decision he could. He rammed into the boat as hard as he could before swimming out of there as quickly as he could. This was all too confusing, he needed time to think on his own before coming up with his own plan. And definitely not Operation: Kiss the Boy.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” Hunk blurted out as he swam as fast as he could, past Pidge and back into the ocean.


	7. Chapter 7

Lance didn’t sleep well at all. Keith didn’t even talk to him when they got back to land or the entire way back to the castle. Keith didn’t even have a word to say as his parents scolded both of them. His time in the water really did a number on him, and Lance didn’t see him for the rest of the night. He couldn’t help but be a bit curious about it, what caused Keith to go into a panic so suddenly.

It was definitely the water that caused it. Which meant Keith remembered a terrible experience with water. Did that mean…he remembered that night in the ocean? Did he remember Lance saving him? There was no telling what was going through Keith’s head about that accident, but at least…it meant he couldn’t go into the water. Did that mean that Lance, a mermaid, actually had no chance with him?

Lance sighed heavily at breakfast, pushing food around with his fork. He was alone, but the servants kept saying that Shiro would join him shortly. Maybe all of this was just a lost cause. The more Lance thought about it, the more he really liked the idea of going back to the water and trying out his odds with Hunk. After all, he really enjoyed being around Hunk and he got that same fluttery feeling around him that he got around Keith…

But, still, Lance didn’t want to just leave Keith. He…still cared about him a lot. And now that he was properly getting to know him…that was just getting worse and worse. Lance wanted to help him. There was a reason he didn’t press when Keith demanded to get to dry land; he just wanted Keith to be comfortable. He wanted Keith to be happy.

“I’m sorry I’m late,” Shiro said, panting. Lance looked back at him, watching as Shiro walked around the table and took his place in front of him. “I’m sorry Keith can’t keep you company anymore, our parents can be a bit…well, you’ve seen them.” Lance nodded, looking back at the plate, which was still mostly full. “Keith…told me what happened yesterday.”

Lance looked back up at Shiro in confusion. So…Keith actually told someone. That was good. But what did Shiro know? Something for Lance to help Keith out? This was past wanting that stupid kiss, now Lance just wanted Keith to be happy, to not have to worry about having panic attacks when he touches the water.

“Thank you for being understanding,” Shiro said first. “It means a lot. Ever since an accident a while ago, he’s been bad around water. But, from what he said, you were patient with him. And kind. Thank you for getting him out.”

Lance nodded, biting his lip. At least he helped with something. But he couldn’t help but feel guilty. Yeah, sure, he was nice and helped Keith out of the water. But at the same time, Lance was the reason Keith got there in the first place. It was Lance’s idea to go out together, it was Lance’s idea to go on that boat, and Lance had been the one leaning into that kiss. Lance was the entire reason Keith had to go through that…

“He’s sorry he can’t be here with you,” Shiro said and Lance looked him in the eye. “He didn’t exactly give me a lot of details, but I could tell he had fun. At least, for most of it. And I’m glad you did it. He’s needed to get away from the castle for a while. Away from our parents. So, thank you.”

Lance nodded with a small smile on his face. He heard something like a bell ring above their heads and some servants shuffled out of the room. Lance raised a brow in question.

“That just means a guest has arrived,” Shiro explained. “I don’t know who would be visiting us now, though…We aren’t expecting anyone. Well, doesn’t matter. Is there anything I can do with you while we wait for someone to come for you? I’m not the same as Keith, but maybe we can have a little fun?”

Lance shrugged. He wasn’t quite sure. Practically all of this plan focused on getting Keith to kiss him. He had no idea what to do without him. So…this was just a little weird. He wasn’t sure about anything to do.

“Well, how about let’s see who that guest is?” Shiro offered. “If you’re…done eating?”

Lance nodded, already standing up. It was something to do, at least. Better than awkwardly sitting around a table talking about Keith. It would all be better if Lance could just _talk_ but that was the deal he struck with himself, so he’d find a way around it. There were only two more days left and he would go back to the ocean, anyway…

Shiro led the way through the castle. It was still way too big for Lance to even imagine living in. Even the royalty under the sea lived in smaller quarters than this. What did they even need all this space for? And the high ceilings? They couldn’t even reach those in the air like that. At least the merpeople had high ceilings they could reach…

Before long, they were walking down the main hall and Lance could hear some talking. He recognized a few servants’ voices, as well as…Keith’s? Lance started moving faster, but he nearly stopped dead when he heard another voice. Another…worryingly familiar voice. It…couldn’t be…

“…really, I don’t think I need this much fuss.”

That was _Lance’s voice_.

Lance ran forward, leaving Shiro behind as he ran towards the front door. He stopped dead in his tracks at what he saw. Servants and Keith all stood around one person, dressed up like royalty and standing tall among them.

Hunk.

* * *

Okay, so Hunk knew this was a bad choice the second he thought of it. Yet, he couldn’t stop himself when it came to going through with the plan. He couldn’t let Lance and Keith kiss, which could happen any second as long as Hunk wasn’t involved. And so, he was getting himself involved.

He thought up a fake identity and pieced together an outfit, quickly getting together all the ingredients for the potion to get himself legs, and found himself at the castle. He already regretted what he was doing, but he couldn’t stop himself from doing it. But, when Hunk was welcomed by the servants and Keith came out to investigate, Hunk felt a little better about everything. Keith looked…tired, but good. He was curious and that look honestly looked adorable on him.

But Hunk had to focus, he was here to keep Lance and Keith apart. He had a reason for taking Lance’s voice out of it’s safe shell. As terrible as he felt about it, he had to go through with it. No backing down now.

But…nothing, absolutely nothing, could make up for when Hunk met Lance’s eyes in the main hall. The look of Lance’s heart shattering in those blue eyes, staring at him in shock…it nearly broke Hunk’s heart with it. Keith seemed to take notice of their new guests and smiled at Lance and Shiro, waving them over.

“This is Prince Hunk,” Keith introduced him. “He’s come on a visit from his country. I’ve made the decision for Mother and Father that he can stay here.”

Lance’s crushed stare turned harshly into a glare by the time he got close to Hunk, who looked away. He had to commit to this now that he’d done it. Even if it ruined his relationship with Lance. He was just…in such a panic that this was the only thing that made sense. Keep Keith and Lance apart so that he could eventually figure out his feelings. For both of them. And both of them together.

“I’m Shiro,” Keith’s brother introduced himself, holding out a hand, which Hunk readily took.

“It’s nice to meet you,” Hunk said, Lance’s voice echoing after his words. It was a feeling he couldn’t get used to, someone else’s voice coming out of his mouth. But he could figure this out eventually. He had to.

“This is Lance,” Keith offered and Lance’s glare lightened when he met Keith’s eyes. Hunk swallowed thickly.

“Where did you say you were from?” Shiro asked and Lance raised a brow, apparently eager for Hunk to answer the question.

“It’s a small island nation not many have heard of,” Hunk said easily. “It’s called Atlantica.”

“Like the fabled mermaid city?” Keith asked with genuine curiosity. Ever since Hunk opened his mouth and Lance’s voice came out, Keith seemed to have a fascination with him, something was pulling Keith towards him. Hunk wasn’t sure what yet, but he was sure he’d find out.

“We get mistaken all the time,” Hunk said. “Classic mistake, we are pretty much in the middle of nowhere.”

“And what possessed you to come to our country?” Shiro asked. Lance crossed his arms over his chest as he huffed, not even daring to look away from Hunk with that glare.

“Just exploring,” Hunk offered. “I didn’t get a chance much when I was younger. Your country was the closest, so I figured I’d start close.”

“Well, we’re happy to give you a home for now,” Keith offered. He seemed more relaxed than Hunk had seen him before. Maybe it had something to do with Lance. After all, he did have a great quality that made everyone around him feel relaxed. It was just in his blood to make everyone feel happier in his presence. Except when he was glaring, then he made Hunk feel like the scourge of the Earth. Which, he was at this point.

“Thank you very much,” Hunk said, making sure to keep close to Keith. He had his goal in mind and he had to commit, no matter how terrible he felt about it. Lance would probably never forgive him now, so there was no going back. He had to keep the two of them apart, that was his entire goal. He didn’t want to confront all of those confusing emotions about love and everything else, so he would avoid it all by doing this. It was settled. “If you wouldn’t mind,” Hunk offered, “could I get a tour? Whatever you have time for, of course, Prince Keith, I would hate to intrude on your time.”

Keith looked him over for a second before smiling. “You know, I think I have all the time in the world.”

“Are you sure, Keith?” Shiro asked and Keith just dismissed him with a wave of his hand. Hunk raised a brow, but remained silent on the matter. He didn’t actually know that much about Keith so far, but he was sure he’d learn at this rate. Keith was…extremely open around him for some reason, but that worked in Hunk’s favor.

Lance seemed to take the moment of silence to his advantage and stepped forward, placing a hand on Keith’s shoulder. He gave a wide-eyed look that nearly made Hunk feel weak in the knees (a strange feeling in general since this was his first time using legs). He was asking to come along, that much was obvious. Hunk wanted to interject, but Keith’s smile, that pure flash of happiness in Lance’s direction, made Hunk bite his tongue. He couldn’t say no to that.

“You want to come with us?” Keith asked. Lance nodded with that award-winning smile of his. “Yeah, I think that’s a good idea. You…don’t mind, do you, Prince Hunk?”

“Please, just Hunk,” he said. Lance didn’t move away from Keith, almost possessively. “I mean…how could I say no to that face?”

“I’ll cover for you,” Shiro said and Keith smiled.

“Thank you,” Keith said with a warm smile.

“I still think you should talk with them,” Shiro said.

“You know I can’t,” Keith scoffed. “They don’t listen to me. We’ll be back later. I promise I won’t come back soaking wet this time.”

Hunk flinched at the same time as Lance, but Shiro chuckled. “Have fun.” Shiro nodded to them, walking further into the castle.

“Well, then,” Keith said, turning to Hunk. “What did you want to see?”

* * *

This actually felt kind of nice. Keith couldn’t stop himself from smiling as he walked through the nearby town with Hunk and Lance. It was fairly comfortable, though Keith could tell that there was _something_ between the other two that Keith didn’t know, and it was happy. Plus, he was running away from his responsibilities once again, so that was always nice. The longer he could run away, the better, honestly. Eventually, he’ll actually be the king and he won’t have this chance, so he might as well enjoy it while he could.

Beside that, Hunk’s voice…There was definitely something familiar about it and Keith _knew_ , he just _knew_ that was the voice from the day the ship sank. Hunk hadn’t made any indication that he was the one that saved Keith, but _that voice_. It was him, Keith knew it. As much as Keith felt like he somewhat recognized Lance, he couldn’t place the thought. But with Hunk…he knew that voice. He remembered it so clearly. Hell, it played over and over in his dreams and nightmares for the past few weeks non-stop.

Lance tugged on Keith’s arm to drag him over to a cart selling some kind of food and Keith rolled his eyes, but laughed anyway. Hunk followed closely behind.

“You’re always too excited,” Keith said with a chuckle, but regardless, he paid for some food for the three of them. “Try not to trip.” Keith smirked when Lance pouted.

“So, what do you do for fun around here?” Hunk asked curiously.

“Not much, honestly,” Keith said. “My parents have me busy most of the time. I used to go sailing a lot, but not anymore.”

“What happened?”

Keith sighed. Maybe he was playing dumb. Or maybe he didn’t remember… “An accident. It’s not that big of a deal, really. My parents won’t let me out on the sea anymore just in case something else happens. I’m not exactly allowed to have fun.”

“Well, that’s not fair,” Hunk scoffed.

Keith smiled. “I mean…I’m having fun now. I like to break the rules.”

“A rebel,” Hunk said with a smile. “I like it.”

Keith rolled his eyes and Lance suddenly started bouncing on his feet before pulling Keith with him again. This time, he really did trip and stumble, nearly falling on his face and Keith laughed while he righted himself. Lance finished dragging him in front of a bakery, looking in awe at all the products in all sorts of shapes and sizes. It seemed that Lance was getting used to the fact that he couldn’t speak, compensating by making his gestures and expressions as big as possible. It was…adorable, honestly.

Hunk caught up to them and joined Lance by looking at the bread in awe, like the two of them had never seen anything like it. While it didn’t seem like the two of them got along that well, they did seem to have a lot in common.

Yeah, this was nice. Keith enjoyed this. If only it could last longer…


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fair warning, this chapter is entirely backstory, it is how Lance and Keith first met. Trigger warning for almost drowning, I guess.

Keith took in a deep breath as he hung off the rope, his hand securely keeping him above the churning waves below him. He could just stay out here forever, taking all of it in; the smell, the sound, the view…He let out a sigh as he draped his arm around the rope, looking out as the sun set over the horizon. They weren’t far from home yet, but Keith could just _feel_ the freedom that came from these trips. And, for once, his parents weren’t with them. No dealing with all those orders and commands, no saving face in front of his parents. Just a job to do and a lot of time to do it. Honestly, Keith considered taking the helm and never going back.

“Careful up there,” Shiro called up, but when Keith looked down at his brother, Shiro wasn’t even looking up at him. Keith smiled widely, looking back up to the ocean. “I don’t want you to fall.”

Keith just laughed, climbing up further, towards the crow’s nest. It was so quiet up there, away from everything else. And it had the best view Keith had ever seen in the entire world. Once he finally made it to the small space, he placed his hands firmly on the railing and leaned as far as he could. With just a little bit of imagination, he could forget about the rocking, forget about the voices below, forget about the ship altogether, and it would be just him and the ocean. He would be flying, the wind and salt in his face as he explored the expanses on his own.

The sun was mostly set now and Keith knew that he would be called down, into the bowels of the ship soon. The view would be taken from him. And so, Keith took one last, lingering look out to the ocean before he began his climb back down the ropes. His boots thudded onto the deck and he was surrounded by the sounds of deckhands and the waves below. It was easy to find Shiro among the mess, leaning against a railing with his eyes closed, taking in the sea breeze. It was rare to see him this relaxed.

“Makes you wanna never go back, right?” Keith asked conversationally, stopping beside his brother. The sun was gone from the horizon. Soon, all color would leave the sky and they’d be surrounded by the stars. Keith couldn’t wait.

“I think that’s just you.” Shiro chuckled, opening his eyes to look at Keith. “You never want to go back.”

“Of course I want to go back,” Keith lied. “I’m the crown prince, I have a job to do. I can’t just…abandon our country. Sometimes I just…catch myself looking out to the ocean and thinking about swimming away. Don’t you ever do that?”

“I prefer solid ground, myself,” Shiro said with a shrug. Keith rolled his eyes. Shiro was always the realist. “I might not have anything to go back to, but I always feel a pull to come back.”

 _Must be nice_ , Keith thought. Shiro seemed to notice Keith’s hesitation, his refusal to look back at their castle and what bit of their land they could see from the ship. Shiro placed a hand on Keith’s shoulder and Keith smiled faintly at him.

“You should tell them,” Shiro said. “Tell them you don’t want to be the king. Maybe we could all work something out?”

“You should be the crown prince,” Keith admitted. “I’m just not meant for it. You would make such a great leader, a great king. I’d just mess everything up.”

“Don’t say that,” Shiro said and Keith shook his head.

“Look, let’s just take this as the vacation that it is,” Keith said, walking towards the door that would lead them to their cabins. “Relax for a bit, enjoy the view and the ocean. I’ll…consider telling them when we get back.”

“Alright,” Shiro said. “But I hope you decide on something soon.”

_Me too._

* * *

The storm was getting bad up there. Lance swam out of his home just to look up to the surface. A little bit ago, it was a clear day, perfect for all the boats leaving port to go sailing. Lance very nearly snuck onto a few of them just to get a glimpse at some humans. But now? The storm was even affecting the water all the way down there. It wasn’t bad, but it was still a little concerning. Lance couldn’t help but wonder if all of those boats made it somewhere safe.

Lance couldn’t help but think back to one boat that he’d been able to catch a good glimpse at earlier that day, just at sunset. He’d watched as a man climbed up the entire mast, stopping to take in the view. When he dared to get closer, as the man descended the rope and made it back to the deck, he took in the man’s features among the setting sun. Lance couldn’t hear what he was saying, hell, he couldn’t even see him that clearly, but there was something about him Lance couldn’t get out of his head. Maybe it was the way he looked out at the ocean, maybe it was his sad smile when he looked back to the place he came from…but Lance was interested. Nearly interested enough to follow the ship through the ocean, but he let it be.

Lightening cracked overhead and Lance could barely hear the thunder, but he definitely saw the flash. With a huff, Lance decided to swim up to the surface, just to sate his curiosity. It took a little skill to get around the currents and turbulent waves, but he did manage to get his head into the air. Waves smacked him back into the water repeatedly, but they didn’t stop Lance from seeing something on the horizon.

With some more effort, Lance could make out the shadow in the night, along with the help of some lightning strikes. It was a ship. And a large one at that. With some more lightning, Lance took in the familiar sight in awe. It was _the_ ship, the one with that man on it. The storm must have tossed them around, bringing them closer to port than they intended. They seemed stable, but this storm was intense. Lance started swimming cautiously among the currents until he saw lightening strike the mast, lighting it on fire and creating a deafening sound of wood splintering. The mast fell over, but even the pelting rain couldn’t get rid of the fire the lightning left behind.

Lance tossed caution to the wind and swam quickly over, hoping there was something he could do to help. Sure, they weren’t exactly allowed to get in contact with the humans because they were ‘dangerous’ but that had never stopped Lance before. It nearly wiped out all of Lance’s energy, but he did eventually make it to the ship, just in time for more lightning to strike it somewhere else, violently tearing into the front of the ship and taking a few pieces with it. Lance was very nearly slammed against the ship itself when a particularly violent wave moved over him, nearly capsizing the vessel in the process. These people were in real danger of drowning, especially as the ship was beginning to sink, and quickly.

Lance brought his head back up above water in an attempt to listen, maybe hear what the people on the deck were saying, but the storm was too loud, drowning out everything. Another wave came, this one even larger, and this time it really did turn the ship on to its side. It happened slowly at first, the boat tilting bit by bit, until it reached the point of no return, and then it crashed onto its side.

Lance tried to work quickly, watching as people began falling into the water. There were several objects that could still float and, luckily, the darkness of the night and the water made Lance nearly invisible. He guided barrels and drifting wood to struggling sailors, a few of them even managed to find boats, getting as far away from the sinking ship as possible. Lance watched as a wave capsized a few of those boats as well. There wasn’t enough time to do much. He was just one guy, he couldn’t save all these people.

That was when Lance noticed, with the flickering flames on the ship as his light, that one of the humans wasn’t struggling or swimming. He was sinking, deep into the ocean. Lance dove quickly, scooping the man into his arms before swimming upwards as quickly as possible. He had no problem breathing with the beating waves, but Lance quickly learned that the man in his arms wasn’t so lucky. In fact, it looked like he wasn’t even breathing at all, his eyes closed and his head limp.

Lance had to get to land and quick. He knew the way to that castle with the private beach and he started swimming, as quickly as his fins could take him. The rest of the sailors seemed fine, and Lance could only carry one person at a time. It wasn’t that far to the beach, but at this rate it felt like it was miles and miles away. The waves were working against him, and so was the current, and the rain was pelting both of them so hard Lance was getting a headache. The man was completely limp, and not looking good at all. Each time his head went underwater, Lance tried to swim faster, but he was already exhausted at this point.

Finally, finally, they made it to the beach. Lance could see the lights of the town and the castle, finally. At least, the few that were still on. The sun was beginning to rise over the castle as well, a dim light washing over them. Lance looked down to the man and nearly dropped him in surprise when he finally noticed just who he was cradling in his arms. It was the man from before. With the raven hair that wisped gently in the wind and the smile that seemed to break his face, the man that stared out into the ocean for so long, Lance had to turn away.

Lance gritted his teeth, managing to finally, finally, make it to the sand on the beach. The rain was finally weakening as he shoved and pushed both him and his mystery man onto the sand. Now, Lance just had to figure out what to do when it came to helping the guy out. Lance didn’t know anything about drowning, except that it was a thing humans could do!

“Lance!” someone shouted over the quickly calming rain and waves. He glanced back to see Pidge poking her head out of the water, looking him over skeptically. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

“Pidge!” Lance pleaded. “He’s dying! Please, help me!”

“He’s a human,” Pidge said hesitantly. Lance groaned. If anyone knew how to help a human, it was Pidge. She knew everything. The sun continued to rise, casting its light over the man’s face. It just looked like he was sleeping, his clothes soaked through and his wet hair plastered onto his pale face.

“Pidge, please!” Lance begged.

Pidge hesitated for a moment longer and, by the time the rain changed to a drizzle, she crawled her way over to the beach. Without a word, she got to work, looking the guy over before pressing hard onto his chest.

“It’s gonna be okay,” Lance said, moving some of the man’s hair out of his face. “You’re going to be okay. We won’t let you die.” Eventually, something did happen. Pidge quickly moved her hands away as the man started gurgling and coughing. He coughed up an impossible amount of water, turning a little to the side. “You’re okay… Oh, thank the Gods. He’s okay.”

“Don’t get yourself in trouble here, Lance,” Pidge whispered, so as not to be heard by the man. “This is dangerous.”

“He’s not dangerous,” Lance persisted before leaning close to the man, who was groaning, his eyes still closed. He was okay. “It’s going to be okay, you’re safe now, I promise.” Lance moved an assuring hand through the man’s wet and knotted hair carefully. The clothes he was wearing looked dreadfully heavy and almost entirely covered by sand, but they seemed okay. “Just breathe. You’re alive.”

“Oh, my word!” a woman gasped and Lance snapped his attention up, to see the king and queen of the castle rushing down the stairs to the beach. Lance glanced back down at the man one last time, whose eyes were just beginning to open, before he and Pidge scrambled for the water, hiding to safety by the time either of the humans made it to the man.

“That was a stupid move,” Pidge said, staring up at the beach while they stayed still in the safety of the water.

“Yeah, yeah it was,” Lance said with a smile. “I…I wonder what his name is…”

“Don’t start,” Pidge said with a groan. “This can only end in disaster.”

Lance bit his lip as his smile refused to fall. He knew that. Of course he knew that. But still… “Maybe it won’t.”

* * *

Voices, water, air. Keith couldn’t process much, but he knew he was cold and wet. And there were voices. No, wait, it was just one voice. He couldn’t really process the words, but they were there. That voice was crystal clear to him. He felt impossibly weak, couldn’t move or even open his eyes. All he could do was breathe. And breathe he did. He was gasping in air as quickly as he could. It was like he couldn’t get enough. He’d nearly drowned, that he knew. That storm…it came out of nowhere.

Where was Shiro?

“Just breathe. You’re alive.”

The voice cut through to his head clearly. The voice of the person that saved him. Keith used all of the energy he had left to slowly force his eyes open. But, when he did, he was met with empty space. There was some kind of indent in the sand in front of him, but it just vanished into the ocean…

“Keith,” his mother’s voice came next and Keith slowly turned to her. She was kneeling beside him, dirtying her nightgown with the wet sand. She took Keith’s head into her hands, whispering apologies an sweet nothings into his ear. His father was behind him, running a hand up and down his back.

Someone had just saved his life. It wasn’t his father or mother or Shiro, since he wasn’t around. Who had just saved him? Keith looked out to the ocean, the light of morning filtering through the quickly dissipating clouds. He wondered if he would ever know.

It only took less than an hour for the search party to come back with Shiro and only half the crew of the ship. As far as everyone was concerned, the entire ship was left to the creatures at the bottom of the ocean.


	9. Chapter 9

It was hard to juggle between a real smile in front of Keith and a fake smile in front of Hunk, but Lance had figured out the kinks so far. He was feeling so many emotions that he couldn’t process them all. First, there was the fact that Keith was happy. Very happy. He was laughing and talking so much and…Gods Lance could barely hold himself together. On the other hand…Hunk.

Part of the reason Keith was laughing and smiling so much was because Hunk was there. Using Lance’s voice. Lance didn’t even know what to _think_ let alone _do_ about Hunk. What was he even doing on land? Why was he using _Lance’s voice?_ It made Lance want to scream or cry or shout, but he couldn’t do anything. He had half a mind to try and let Keith know not to trust him, but…Hunk could talk his way out of it. Lance could only mime things out. He couldn’t prove anything. So, Lance could only smile when Keith turned his way with that grin that crinkled his face and lit up his eyes. He could only laugh along to whatever thing Hunk had said.

Meanwhile, Lance was thinking of all sorts of things he wish he could say to Hunk to set him in his place. Some involved curses…some involved many curses. Lance wished he was creative as Pidge when it came to insults.

“Okay, okay, so what did you call this again?” Hunk asked (Lance could never get used to hearing his voice like that, coming from someone else’s mouth) and Lance looked down at the thing in his hands. He hadn’t really taken much in of anything at all that they were doing. Sure, some of the stuff was impressive, but he had other things to worry about. Like Keith and how his hair blew in the wind. And like Hunk and his complete and utter betrayal.

“Chocolate,” Keith supplied, taking another bite.

“It’s so good,” Hunk said happily and he and Keith laughed. Keith glanced and Lance and he let out a fake laugh, just enough to convince Keith that he was still happy. He wanted Keith comfortable. Lance could confront Hunk later. They were living in the same castle after all.

“Are you alright, Lance?” Keith asked and Lance paused for a second. Okay, apparently he wasn’t faking it as well as he thought he was.

Lance nodded his head furiously before taking all of the chocolate in his mouth at once. He was about to respond when he finally noticed just how absolutely delicious chocolate actually was. Sure, fish was great and all, but holy fuck what the hell was this chocolate? He placed a hand over his mouth, his eyes going wide, as he soaked it in. Both Keith and Hunk laugh and, when Lance glanced over at them, he could see the same look on their faces, oddly enough. The same dopey, genuine smile and the same look in their eyes.

“Oh, shit,” Keith said, his eyes glancing behind Lance. Lance immediately turned around and all of that happy feeling of the chocolate and being around Keith vanished. It was another carriage, from the castle. With Keith’s father and mother inside it. “I’ll…” Keith sighed. “I’ll talk to them.”

And so Lance was left alone with Hunk, like he’d wanted. But he couldn’t bring himself to do anything while he stared at Keith, who couldn’t even seem to get a word in while both of his parents chewed him out.

“So…uh…I…” Hunk tried to say something, but Lance just sent him the coldest glare he could muster. “We can talk later.” Talk? Hunk wanted to _talk_? Oh, _how fantastic!_  “Well, I mean, I can talk and you can…you know…I’m making this worse.”

Lance just glared at him for another minute before turning his attention back to Keith and his parents. Keith practically had his head hung as his parents turned towards their carriage once again. Lance was the one that moved first, walking towards Keith with Hunk shortly behind him. Keith didn’t look up at them, instead walking towards where they had left the carriage they had taken.

“I’m taking us back,” Keith said without looking at them. He let out a sigh. “And then I’m not allowed to see you again.”

“What?” Hunk asked and Lance’s breath hitched. Keith wasn’t allowed to see him again?

“Shiro will keep you company,” Keith explained. “I will be busy with work. We’ll find your    home, Lance. And, Hunk, I’m sorry but you might have to cut your stay here a little short.”

“But-”

“But nothing,” Keith said. “I don’t have a say.”

“Yes, you do,” Hunk pressed, saying exactly the words Lance wanted to say. Keith let out a heavy sigh as they reached the carriage. Lance had seen this look before, every time Keith’s parents are around. Every time Keith thinks about his responsibilities, that same look of sadness washes over him.

“I wish I did.”

Keith stepped up into the carriage and Lance was about ready to cry, but he held himself together. He had to think of a plan. A new plan now that Hunk was involved doing…whatever the hell he thought he was doing and now that Lance couldn’t steal Keith away anymore. He only had a little more than a day left, and now he was determined to win now that Hunk was intervening.

Lance didn’t even spare Hunk a glance as he followed Keith into the carriage. A plan…He’d come up with one soon, he was sure of it.

* * *

Keith was used to lectures. And very used to tuning them out. He stood in front of his parents, his father sitting behind his giant desk with his mother standing behind him. Keith had long since drowned out their words, instead taking to look out the window just behind their heads, which overlooked the ocean. It was definitely times like this that Keith really imagined himself disappearing forever into the sea. And he’d been actually allowing himself to have fun with Lance and Hunk…

“Keith,” his father snapped and Keith sighed heavily. “You need to listen when people speak to you.”

“Yes, I know,” Keith said.

“For now, get a good night’s rest,” his mother said and Keith nodded slowly. “Tomorrow, you will be hard at work all day, regardless of our guests. Shiro will take care of them.”

“Yes, mother,” Keith said.

“As long as this doesn’t happen again, we can avoid consequences for now,” his father said and Keith bit back his tongue from arguing against them.

“Can I leave now?” he asked instead. “I’ve heard everything you have to say.”

His father sighed before nodding in assent and Keith turned on his heel, walking out of that room as quickly as he could. Not surprisingly, Shiro was waiting outside the door for him, leaning against a wall. The look on his face said it all; he was worried, wanted to know what their parents had said, and wanted to comfort Keith after hearing what happened in the town. Keith just sighed and started walking past him and Shiro walked beside him.

“So…” Shiro said and Keith just looked up at him. “Not good, huh?”

“Not even close,” Keith muttered. “Shouldn’t you be…watching over Hunk and Lance or something?”

“Lance pulled Hunk to the beach a little while ago,” Shiro said. “Looked like they wanted to be alone.”

“Lance doesn’t like him,” Keith said with a sigh. For some reason, he really wanted the two to get along…He really liked Lance but at the same time there was something about Hunk’s voice. Beside that, he and Hunk got along really well really quickly. Keith just wanted things to work out well for once in his life. Well, it wasn’t like it all mattered much now.

“Maybe,” Shiro said. “You like him though.”

It wasn’t a question. Keith let out a small laugh. “I…you remember how I told you that Lance looked familiar? Well, now that I’ve heard Hunk speak…I know I recognize him. It’s definitely the voice from that night I just…”

“Are you sure?” Shiro asked, furrowing his brow.

“Positive,” Keith said, nodding. “I’d know that voice anywhere.”

“So, are we still going with the saved by a merman theory?” Shiro asked. “Because in that case…”

“I don’t know,” Keith said with a sigh. “It seems like a weird thing to ask someone. ‘Hey, did you happen to save my life a few weeks ago in the middle of practically a hurricane? Also, are you a mermaid?’”

“You won’t know until you try,” Shiro offered. “What about Lance? Didn’t you say there was something about him that you liked?”

“I don’t know,” Keith scoffed. “Look, all I know is I’m confused and now I can’t even see them again.”

“Please, this wouldn’t be the first time you broke the rules,” Shiro said. “What are our parents going to do? Make you work more? All they can do is scold you.”

“And sometimes I get tired of even that,” Keith said.

“Well, maybe you could make them happy by saying you’re courting?” Shiro offered and Keith stopped in the hallway to look at him with wide eyes.

“Courting?” Keith sputtered out. “That is _not_ what I’m doing. I’ve only known Lance for…for two days and Hunk just got here!”

“From my experience, even as ‘not real royalty,’ people start courting in the first hour of knowing you,” Shiro said.

“Yeah, well, that’s because people just like your rugged charm or something,” Keith scoffed.

“You can see it in two ways,” Shiro said. “One, you could give it a try. This is, by far, the happiest I’ve ever seen you. The few glimpses I’ve gotten of you with…either of them have been amazing for you. You’re relaxed, actually willing to stand up to our parents by not doing your work, and you’re even _laughing_ , which I haven’t seen you do in years.”

“Option two?” Keith asked. This topic of conversation was making him feel…fuzzy. He wasn’t sure if he liked it or not, so he would prefer not to think about it. As far as he was concerned, being around Lance and Hunk made him happy and that was perfectly fine for now. He could ignore all the other feelings, if that’s what they even were. All he needed was some good distractions. Sure, he was happy, but that was because he liked the two of them…just not in that way.

“Option two is you can just tell our parents you’re courting them,” Shiro said. “They’ve been bugging you to get married since last year. This might appease them and get them to lighten up. The idea of the future king _possibly_ getting married is more important than you sitting in a room all day learning arithmetic. No feelings required and you don’t even have to tell Lance and Hunk that you’re supposed to be courting them. Either way, you win. But, I suggest considering that you might have feelings for them.”

“I don’t,” Keith said quickly. “Hunk might have saved my life, so I owe him that…And Lance is just…” Keith smiled faintly, thinking back to all the times Lance had made him laugh, “Lance. It’s whatever. I’ll…uh…think about it, okay? Maybe they will get off of my back if they think I’m courting. But I’m pretty sure they’d only really approve of other royalty, like Hunk.”

“Then start with him,” Shiro said. “It’s not like there’s a big limit on when either of them are going to leave. There’s been no word about Lance and Hunk didn’t exactly seem eager to leave, even without you. It’s not like tomorrow will be their last day. Take your time.”

“I’ll think about it,” Keith said with a little smile. Even just thinking about being about to be around Lance and Hunk more made him feel more relaxed and at ease. He could do a few more days…he had some time. “Thanks, Shiro.”

“Hey, what else is a half-brother for?” Shiro asked. “Get some sleep, I’ll keep them company for the night. And I’ll help you talk with our parents tomorrow morning.”

“You’re just a natural problem solver, aren’t you?” Keith scoffed. “I’ll ask the question again; why aren’t you the crown prince? You’re way better king material than I am. You’d probably enjoy it more.”

Shiro shrugged. “We have to deal with the hand we were dealt. Good night Keith, think about what I said, though. It wouldn’t hurt to actually try and court either of them.”

“Or maybe both,” Keith muttered under his breath.

* * *

Admittedly, Hunk did not want to be alone with Lance. In fact, it was at the top of his list of things he absolutely did not want to do. Sure, being with him and Keith at the same time was…really good. It was a little freeing, actually, to let himself forget about some of his troubles. (Keyword: some. He did have quite a lot of stress what with all those glares Lance was sending his way.) And for some reason Hunk couldn’t explain, being around both of them, just felt right. Sure, Lance made sense but Keith? Even just talking with him for a little bit had Hunk falling quickly. It was extremely confusing, honestly, and Hunk was just trying to block all of that out. He could chalk it all up to be interested in Keith’s slightly mysterious drowning story for the time being. For a moment, Hunk could forget all the guilt that had been hanging over him for the past few days. 

However, Lance wanted to talk, or wanted Hunk to talk. He all but dragged Hunk outside, down the stairs to that little private beach. He looked furious, which Hunk wasn’t sure if it was better or worse than the disappointed stare from earlier that day. Finally, Lance let him go and just wildly gestured his hands towards Hunk in a vague but recognizable ‘what the fuck’ motion. 

“I mean, I have an explanation, but I don’t think you want it,” Hunk muttered and Lance just raised a brow, his arms crossed tightly over his chest. He had a look on his face that told Hunk he was coming up with many, many creative insults. Hunk let out a heavy sigh. This was it, the moment he knew would happen, but he was ready to face it. Lance wouldn’t trust him again, not even if he could muster up a good excuse. Hunk had betrayed him and…why? Because Hunk panicked when he saw the two about to kiss? It was ridiculous. But Hunk really had no choice but to commit now. 

“I…” Hunk sighed again. “I can’t let you kiss him, Lance.” 

Lance’s glare softened into hurt before waving his arms out, demanding ‘why.’

“I just can’t,” Hunk said. “You can…decide to never forgive me, I understand if you do. But I won’t let you kiss him, I won’t let this go your way.”

Lance started mouthing words so fast that Hunk couldn’t even figure out what he was trying to say before he harshly shoved Hunk back a few steps. He was back to furious. It hurt Hunk to see Lance like this, and he felt impossibly guilty for being the one to bring Lance to this, but there was nothing he could do at this point. Lance kept silently shouting at Hunk, tears starting to form in his eyes and Hunk let himself get pushed around. It was what he deserved, after all. This was such a stupid position to find himself in.

“I’m sorry,” Hunk said.

Lance violently shook his head. He was right. Hunk didn’t really have a right to apologize at this point. Lance placed a hand over his chest, breathing deeply through his rage and exhaustion from pushing around a guy like Hunk, before he fervently pointed towards the ocean, looking Hunk directly in his eyes.

“I’ll go back to the water if you do.”

Lance’s eyes widened at that before shouting more silent words at Hunk. He was actually starting to cry, he was so angry. It was a sight Hunk had hoped he would never have to see.

“I’m going back inside,” Hunk said, slowly turning around, towards the stairs. “It’s not like either of us will see Keith today, so you can do whatever you want.”

Lance didn’t make a move to follow him and so Hunk went up the stairs, his entire body feeling impossibly heavy as he moved. He couldn’t do this, but he had to commit. In order to keep the two apart and keep himself from feeling all those weird emotions, he had to stick with this. He was Lance’s villain at this point and he doubted he would be anything else. If he was lucky, Keith wouldn’t hear about any of this and Hunk wouldn’t have to see that look on anyone else.

With his back to the water, Hunk didn’t see the head of a mermaid poking up out of the water and getting Lance’s attention.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long! I'm moving and working a lot and I think it's all finally figured out. I'm writing all the rest of this story today, by the looks of it. So I might start updating daily until it's all out. Thank you for your patience. And happy season 3!

Lance angrily ran a hand through his hair, watching as Hunk left. God, he just wanted to punch him in the face, but he had to take a deep breath and steady himself. He started pacing. He needed a plan, a better plan. He wasn’t about to let Hunk just walk in there out of nowhere and steal Keith away from him!

“Hey!” a familiar voice hissed and Lance slowly turned, towards the water. Pidge had her head stuck out, watching Hunk’s retreating figure carefully. Okay, Lance had never been happier to see her before. He’d seen her yesterday, but this was infinitely better. Maybe it was her to got them to that almost kiss!

Lance didn’t even hesitate to walk into the water, the top of it just reaching over his knees and Pidge scoffed, but stayed mostly underwater, aside from her head.

“Listen, I have no idea what Hunk’s doing, but it’s not good,” Pidge said.

Well, no shit. Lance raised his arms up in question. What was he supposed to do now?

“I’ll definitely help you out, don’t worry,” Pidge said. “I’ll do anything I can. I…look, Hunk’s a bit unpredictable right now. He’s not about to do anything dangerous for now, but I don’t know what he’ll do next.” Lance raised a brow. “Hunk…is figuring out a lot of feelings right now. It’s not important right now. For now, it looks like he’ll do anything to make sure you don’t get that kiss. Which means we need to get you that kiss.”

Lance nodded. Okay, he was liking this plan so far, but how was Pidge expecting to do anything while she was in the water.

“I was working with him for a while before he decided to do…this,” Pidge said. “I know some ways you can slow him down.” Lance nodded again. Okay, so this was going somewhere. But Pidge hesitated slightly. “Okay, okay, so I thought you didn’t need to know this because it’ll distract you but I think this is good ammo. Hunk likes you. As in…he’s got a major crush on you.”

Lance blinked. Well, that was right out of left field, okay then. Hunk…had a crush…on him… Okay, okay, okay. Well, one that explained, like, a little of what was going on, maybe. Okay, maybe it explained a lot of Hunk's actions. So he really did have a reason for all this, albeit not a good reason...But he got Keith caught up in this, too.

“So…I’m thinking,” Pidge continued. “You can distract him, bat your eyes at him, whatever. Just get that kiss from Keith and this will be over. You’ll get your voice back, right?” She paused. “He told me he didn’t have your voice, but he’s obviously a liar. We’ll…figure out what to do after that. What to do with him.”

Lance nodded slowly. Hunk came up and used Lance’s voice to betray him…just because he had a crush on him? Wait, then…Hunk didn’t really need to take Lance’s voice for this spell. What else did he lie about? Did he lie about having to make a time limit? What else did he lie about? Lance had trusted him! This was all too much for one damn day. Lance needed a break. He needed sleep.

“I’ll help you if you can get Keith close to the water.” No, that wouldn’t work. Keith was terrified of the water and Lance wasn’t about to drag him back there again, that was just a stupid idea. “But other than that, I’m stuck here. We’ll figure something out, I know it. Come back here tomorrow morning, I’ll have a plan for sure.”

Lance just nodded, holding onto his head before turning around. He was starting to get a headache from all of this. He just wanted to rest. All he wanted this whole time was a chance to see Keith up front, maybe even talk to him. When did it all get this complicated? It barely even felt worth it at this point.

“Good luck,” Pidge said. “And I’m sorry it had to end up like this, Lance.”

Lance just nodded again, heading back inside. A good night’s rest. Maybe that was what he needed. Then he’d have the energy to…to…

Honestly, with things this complicated, was it even worth it anymore?

* * *

Hunk sighed heavily, holding onto a railing tightly as he looked over it. He was only on the second floor, but he still felt tall. It was also still really weird for him to not be able to swim freely through levels. Walking around everywhere was really tiring and took too long. On top of that…

Hunk slumped over. Lance definitely thought he was a complete asshole now. There was absolutely no way to redeem this. Hunk just shouldn’t have butted into this situation at all, now it had all spiraled out of control.

“Are you having a rough night, too?” Keith chuckled from behind him and Hunk startled to a standing position, a slight blush appearing on his face. Even though Keith had laughed, he looked far from actually happy. He had that frown etched on his face again and he was leaning against a wall. It was hard to see much of either of them, with the sun having just finished setting a few minutes ago.

“Yeah, you could say I’m just homesick, I guess,” Hunk said, sighing heavily. “How’s your night going?”

“Could be better,” Keith offered.

“Hey…aren’t you, like, never supposed to see us again?” Hunk asked curiously.

Keith let out a sigh. “Maybe. But…I might be able to work around it. My brother might have convinced me into doing something stupid.”

“Stupid how?” Hunk asked.

Keith shook his head. “It’s stupid, forget I said anything.”

“Please, you’re not stupid,” Hunk said. Keith did offer for a great distraction from all his stress, even though he was technically the source of all of Hunk’s stress. But…maybe…since he stood absolutely no chance at all with Lance, maybe he should consider his feelings for Keith? Start a new life up on land? That sounded way easier than dealing with his stressful life in the ocean. But that didn’t mean it was the right thing to do…He’d still be lying out his ass. Maybe now would be a good time to grow a conscience instead.

“Maybe it would be a good idea to get it off my chest to someone that’s not Shiro,” Keith mused before standing beside Hunk, leaning against the railing. Hunk turned around to mirror him, both of them resting their arms on the railing and looking down at the quickly growing darkness below.

“I’m here to listen to whatever you have to say,” Hunk said. “And…so is Lance.”

“Yeah…I-I guess so,” Keith said, a small smile finally forming on his face. “You must get it, coming from royalty, too. I’m getting older and, well, my parents expect me to be married by the end of the year.”

Hunk’s eyes widened but he was thankful that the darkness hid it, considering Keith expected him to understand. “That’s…” Hunk muttered. “That’s not fair.”

“It’s not about fair,” Keith said. “No matter what I want, that’s what has to be done. It’s tradition. Don’t you have something like it in Atlantica?”

“Sort of,” Hunk lied. “It’s similar, but we would never force our royalty to be married. Have you…found someone that you might want to marry? Or will it have to be arranged?”

“I’m hoping more than anything it won’t be arranged,” Keith said. “But if my parents get too impatient, that’s what’s going to happen. I don’t even know how to figure out the emotions I’m feeling right now anyway.”

“What feelings?” Hunk asked and immediately felt like he overstepped his bounds. That wasn’t his place to ask, but another part of him really wanted to know if Keith had feelings for Lance. That was the only reason he was really here, after all. Keith sighed heavily.

“I’m trying to figure it out,” Keith said. “I dunno, it sounds stupid in my head.”

“Well, you’re talking about it now,” Hunk said. Yeah, a small part of him wanted to see if Keith liked Lance. But…a much bigger part of Hunk wanted Keith to let out whatever was getting him so worked up. “Might as well get it all out,” Hunk offered.

Keith sighed, but he smiled faintly. “Maybe…but…I don’t know, it’s kind of personal. Then again…I’ve barely met you but I feel like I could trust you with my life.”

Hunk blinked in surprise. “I don’t think you should do that…” Hunk said sheepishly. “I haven’t earned it.”

“Maybe, maybe not,” Keith hummed. He took a deep breath. “Okay, well…it might be better if I come out and say it… Shiro gave me the idea that, maybe, to appease my parents and to figure out these…emotions going on in my head, that I should start courting.” Hunk had a bad feeling about this in his gut. This could go any number of ways and Hunk was not prepared for any of them. “And, well, I…uh…I think my parents would first be more open to me courting another man of royalty.” _Oh no._ “So, yeah, I think that’s about it,” Keith said, his shoulders relaxing in his relief having get that out of his system. Meanwhile, Hunk could feel his own shoulders tensing as his mind raced a mile a minute. Keith turned towards him. “Hunk, if it’s alright with you…would you mind possibly giving this a shot?”

“Uh….” Hunk forcibly tried to get his brain to start working normally again. “I…I…uh,” Hunk muttered. “Let me think on it,” he squeaked out before stumbling over his own feet before running away as quickly as possible from Keith.

Hunk couldn’t even bring himself to think about what Keith could possibly be feeling, what with Hunk actually running away with him. Hunk’s thought all seemed to center on himself, how terrible he was for, basically, stealing away Keith from Lance, how all of this unfolding was entirely his own fault. He didn’t expect to get this invested at all, he hadn’t anticipated any of this.

So…why did a large part of him want to go back to Keith and say…

Yes?

* * *

Keith stood alone in the darkness, just staring in the direction Hunk had run off to. Was he…was he too forward? Did Hunk not feel that way? Oh, God, this was a mistake, Keith should have just never seen them again and that would be that. He wouldn’t have to deal with all of this. He groaned heavily, running a hand through his hair.

Hell, he wasn’t even sure if that was a rejection in the first place. Hunk did just say that he had to think about it…Still, it stung a little bit that Hunk was so quick to run away from him. Even after Keith let it slip that he would trust Hunk with his life…

Keith let out a groan, walking through the castle and to the only place that could hopefully calm him down. He heard a tiny meow beside him and smiled slightly when he saw that Red was keeping pace beside him. That was a little calming already. Even in the dark, Keith effortlessly made his way to the beach, hearing the sound of the waves and smelling the familiar aroma in no time at all. He took it in happily as he made his way down the stairs slowly.

That was when he heard the splashing. Keith raised a brow. No one went to the beach at night, so who could that possibly be? Keith slowed down, crouching down while he continued his descent. He couldn’t hear much aside from the splashing, but he did hear a voice. Wait…two voices. They became more and more clear the further he went down.

“…and then we’ll just need to put that here.”

“No, wait, if we used coral instead of seaweed here we could do something even better.”

“You do have a good point…”

“This is why I’m the older brother.”

“I changed my mind. You never have a good point.”

“Hey!”

Keith frowned as he reached the base of the stairs. From what he could tell, no one was on the beach. No footprints or anything… He inched a little bit further so that he could see the water. Surprisingly, there was someone there, a fair distance into the water. Whoever they were, they were swimming around quickly and smoothly, like they were born to be in the water. Keith had never seen them before, but it made sense that some people would sneak into the royal beach in the middle of the night to have some fun.

The person seemed to be alone, though…so where was that other person?

Keith was waiting around for maybe another minute before someone emerged from under the water, shaking their head free of water, holding onto some kelp in their hands.

“You think this will work?” they asked impatiently, not even sounding out of breath.

Keith inched forward again, peering as close as he could. The moon offered some light, but nowhere near enough.

“Yeah, I think that’s good,” the other one, the smaller one said. “We gotta help him some way, do you really think this machine will do any good?”

Keith knew his imagination was getting ahead of him, but the very first thought that came to his mind was that these were real, actual mermaids. Like he thought always existed. This would quite possibly be the best day of his life if this was true. The two in the water seemed to be unaware of Keith, focusing on whatever they were looking at, so Keith dared to go forward, into plain sight. It was still dark, so hopefully he could hide in the shadows for a little longer. He just had to figure out of these were actual mermaids.

“Look, we need a big gesture if he’s gonna get Keith by the end of tomorrow,” the bigger one said and Keith froze. What was that about him? By the end of tomorrow?

“Obviously he needs all the help he can get,” the small one snorted. “I’m gonna go looking for some more darts, be right back.” Were they talking about Hunk? Or maybe even Lance?

Keith felt all of his breath leave him when he saw the small one dive down, into the water, a glittering green tail coming up above the water for just a flash of a second before vanishing under the waves. That was it, Keith had to be sleeping. There was no way that all of this was actually happening.

The other person, the other _mermaid,_ still flitted about with whatever they were doing over there. Keith couldn’t think of what to do, what to say. Whether he should go back to the castle and sleep this off or wait and see what would happen. He could even go up and talk to them. After all, they knew his name, so they had to know something about him. He wanted to know more, so much more. Why were mermaids so interested in him?

He didn’t have much time to contemplate before the second one resurfaced again, but this time, luck was not on Keith’s side. The mermaid surfaced facing him and Keith managed to meet their eye. There was a shocked silence for a short while before Keith did the first thing that came to his mind.

He ran.

“Hey! Wait! Keith! Stop!”

Keith sprinted up the stairs as quickly as he could before going back into the castle and slamming the door closed behind him. This was all becoming too much to handle. Sure, it was one thing imagining that Hunk was a mermaid that saved his life a few weeks ago, but this…? Keith shook his head. He needed to go to sleep.


	11. Chapter 11

No one slept well, that much was obvious. Lance barely walked into the dining room before he saw both Keith and Hunk practically falling asleep where they sat. The curious thing, however, was the fact that Keith was actually around, as was Shiro and Keith’s parents. Lance just awkwardly and silently made his way to a spot next to Shiro, but across from Keith. Hunk had gotten there early and stole away the spot next to Keith.

The silence in the room was so thick that Lance almost thought he was back underwater. He had no idea what he was getting himself into. Honestly, he was just tired and overwhelmed and, at this point, would just prefer going back into the ocean and curling up into a ball in his home until the world ended. But for now, in the present, Lance was stuck in a room with a few very stiff humans and an awkward Hunk that had sabotaged his love life.

“Look, you said you had a question to ask me,” Keith said harshly to his parents, “so are we just going to sit like this forever or are you going to ask it?” The dark circles under his eyes were obvious. Maybe he hadn’t even slept at all, but why? Because he wasn’t allowed to see Lance or Hunk again?

Keith’s mother cleared her throat. “We were going to wait for our meals. Act like civilized people.”

Keith took a deep breath, probably to stop himself from saying something hotheaded, but Lance honestly wished that he had said something. He definitely deserved it with all the shit his parents were constantly giving him. But, as always the past couple days, Lance was forced to hold his tongue. Hunk seemed like he was too scared to say anything, acting like the pushover he was when Lance first met him, all the way back when they were kids. He never liked confrontation. Except, apparently, when it came to Lance figuring out his emotions, but that was whatever. Shiro, however, was oddly patient when it came to all of this, which surprised Lance more than anything.

The silence seemed to stretch on for eternity, so about another five minutes, before the breakfast finally arrived. For some reason, Lance wasn’t feeling very hungry.

“Now will you just ask it?” Keith asked impatiently. Lance honestly had no idea what was causing Keith to act more boldly than normal around his parents, but he kinda liked seeing this side of Keith. The ‘done with your shit’ side of Keith. Not only was it extremely attractive, but it was really nice to see Keith standing up for himself.

“Well, if you must ask,” his father said slowly, “Shiro brought up an important matter with us last night.”

“He did what?” Keith asked, sending his brother a harsh glare. Shiro just shrugged before quickly eating some of the food in front of him.

“And I will admit,” his father continued like he wasn’t interrupted, “we have been too harsh on you. Yes, you have been shirking your responsibilities, especially the past few days. But, on the other hand, we expect you, as one of your duties, to marry and take the throne for yourself.”

“As such,” his mother picked up. “we will…release the reigns a little bit and offer you more time for…whatever you need.”

Lance shifted slightly in his seat. Did this mean that his parents thought that Keith was…trying to court either Lance or Hunk? In all honesty, the thought was kind of nice to Lance that the feelings were maybe reciprocated…but the thought that Keith might ‘court’ Hunk made him impossibly irritated.

Keith blinked, his eyes wide in surprise. “Really?” Keith asked.

“We’ve been hard on you,” Keith’s father said. “We still fully expect you to pick up your duties and attend all of your tutor sessions and you will never disobey us or leave without permission again. But, if you follow those rules, you will have more free time for…” he glanced, very obviously, between Lance and Hunk, “any activities you may want.”

Lance practically felt his entire face light on fire. So, first Keith’s parents don’t even give anyone the time of day, but now they notice that Lance is here to court Keith and supposedly that’s kind of what Hunk is there to do? Sort of? Lance shook his head. At least things were finally getting a little easier instead of harder.

It was silent in the room again, a different but still stiff silence, for a long time. Long enough for everyone to finish their breakfast, even Lance. The king and queen excused themselves gracefully, but the tense silence remained, even when they left the room. Keith obviously turned a glare onto his brother and Lance was honestly too awkward to remember that he was supposed to be glaring at Hunk.

“Shiro,” Keith finally said. “Can I have a word with you? In private?”

Shiro chuckled slightly. “Sure, why not?”

“Great,” Keith said, standing up quickly and turning to leave the room, Shiro following him close behind.

Hunk stared at his interlaced hands, twiddling his thumbs and refusing to look up at Lance, who honestly couldn’t look at anything else. He’d had a lot of time in the middle of the night to think of what he wanted to say to Hunk, ranging anywhere from shouting all of the curses he knew to flat out kissing him and all the emotions were confusing and weird. But, Lance had settled on one thing; he was done. He was tired of fighting and he was going to let it stand at that. No…stupid, immature fighting over Keith, no wanting to force a kiss out of him. Lance was going to let things go as they would and what happened would happen. In the end, it would be what was meant to happen.

Lance stood up slowly. The only problem here was, he had no way of telling Hunk any of that. At least, not now. He was still impossibly angry at Hunk for lying to him and using his voice, but he was done fighting. For now, at least. These last few days have been too much to handle and honestly Keith deserved the rest and Lance wasn’t about to force anything.

Hunk finally dared to look at him and Lance crossed his arms over his chest before glancing to the door and back. Hunk copied the motion with a questioning look on his face and Lance nodded.

“Do you wanna…talk?” Hunk asked hesitantly, standing up as well. Lance nodded shakily. “Are you still mad? You don’t seem mad anymore.”

Lance just shrugged. He didn’t know, honestly. He started walking and Hunk started following.

* * *

This was honestly terrifying, Hunk had to admit as he closely followed Lance through the halls of the castle. Sure, Lance wouldn’t do anything to hurt Hunk _physically_ , but _emotionally?_ There were many things Lance could do, especially since Hunk was just riddled with anxiety because of everything that was happening. Before long, Lance dragged him out, towards the beach. They were slowly descending the stairs when Hunk finally decided to speak up.

“I know how this is going to sound coming from me, but trust me because I do care but uh…are you okay?” Hunk asked. He new Lance well enough to know when he was down in spirits and right now he definitely was. He was stressed and tense and very…not expressive, which was really rare for Lance. Especially since his voice was taken away, he had gotten extremely expressive with his body language, even more so than usual. But right now he just seemed flat. Tired.

Lance glanced back at him, giving him his best “what do you think” look and Hunk let out a breath. Yeah, that was to be expected after everything. Of course Lance wasn’t okay, Hunk had just appeared out of nowhere to steal his boyfriend by using Lance’s voice. Yeah, that would be stressful for anyone.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought,” Hunk said, rubbing the back of his neck. “Look, I am really sorry about everything that’s happened and I’m really sorry for how our ‘talk’ turned out yesterday, that wasn’t quite right, either.”

Lance put his hand up in a silent order for Hunk to stop and he essentially obeyed. They finally reached the sand and Lance swiftly turned around to face him. Even his eyes looked tired. Sure, Hunk hadn’t slept at all but that was for multiple reasons, but why hadn’t Lance gotten much sleep? Lance just looked into Hunk’s eyes for a while and Hunk couldn’t help but wonder if the other man was staring into his soul. Whatever it was, it didn’t last long. Lance shoved his hands into his pockets before taking a deep breath. He looked out into the water. It looked like…he missed it out there. Hunk did, too, honestly. Looking between that castle and the ocean, it was very easy for him to pick the ocean.

He wondered if Keith felt the same way.

“So…uh…” Hunk muttered. “Look, I…I would give your voice back to you, I would,” he blurted out, “but I…this is complicated, I just.”

Lance shook his head, still lacking a lot of emotion. He gave an empty shrug.

“I mean, all of this is will be over at the end of the day,” Hunk mused. “You and I…we’ll go back to the water and you’ll probably never talk to me again and I’m pretty sure I won’t be able to look Keith in the eye…I just…” He looked at Lance, the way the wind whipped through his hair as he stared into the ocean, where he belonged. God, it almost hurt to see Lance like this on land. “Okay maybe I have a confession that I pretty much owe to you.”

Lance glanced at him, “No Shit” clearly written across his face, before looking back out into the ocean.

“It’s still pretty weird for me trying to figure it all out in my head, but…I have…feelings,” Hunk tried to force out. “For you. And Keith. And you and Keith…together? God, it’s so…weird. I just…I-I want to see you and Keith happy and that was just way too confusing for me to deal with and I panicked and I just-”

A look from Lance silenced him. There were a few emotions there Hunk tried to trace but couldn’t grasp. One that was clear was confusion. And hurt, but that was always there when he was looking at Hunk nowadays.

“I’m just confused about it as you are,” Hunk said. “I don’t understand it at all. I don’t know I’ve had this major crush on you for the longest time and when I heard that you wanted to woo this prince guy I was really upset but I wanted you to be happy and then I saw Keith and I was feeling the same emotions I do about you but then I saw you two about to kiss and, for some reason, I wasn’t jealous or angry I was really happy and I was really confusing and I didn’t know what to do, I just panicked and-”

Lance placed a hand on Hunk’s arm, which stilled him. Hunk hadn’t realized how many words he’d vomited out until he paused to think about it, his face becoming fiery hot, gasping for breath now that he had stopped talking. Lance looked at him in the eye, studying him carefully. He let out a soundless chuckle, shaking his head before letting it fall on Hunk’s chest. Then he started full on laughing, his body shaking but oddly making no noise.

Finally, after a few minutes, Lance pulled himself up, patting Hunk on the shoulder, taking a few deep breaths as he looked at Hunk. He nodded slightly and Hunk was just downright confused at this point, but he was just rolling with it.

“You seem a lot less mad about this than I thought you would be,” Hunk said.

Lance just shrugged, the smile not leaving his face. Hunk honestly thought all of this would be going a lot worse, but Lance wasn’t hitting him or punching him or looking at him with that extremely pissed face.

“Yeah, I know, there are better ways to figure out your crush on someone,” Hunk said. “I guess I was just confused or something. Still, you’re taking this surprisingly well, is there something I should be worried about?”

Lance paused, appearing deep in thought, before he stared out into the ocean in interest. That was when Hunk noticed something poke up above the water, but not just any something.

“Is that…Pidge?” Hunk asked and Lance seemed to understand what was happening before turning around and standing in front of Hunk, waving his arms up in the air in a motion for Pidge to stop. What, did they have some sort of plan in place? When did that happen?

Oh, wait, Hunk had left Lance alone on the beach last night, whoops.

“Uh, what is she doing?” Hunk asked, but it was too late, something went flying, but it had missed it’s target, probably because of the surprise brought on by Lance’s sudden movements.

“Hey! Lance! Hunk!” Keith’s voice called out to their side, the same direction the dart went flying. There was no way…

When Hunk looked over to Keith, who had just made it down the stairs to talk to them about who knew what, and could only hope that nothing would hit him.

* * *

Keith didn’t walk very far, only far enough that Lance and Hunk wouldn’t hear them through the thick doors of the dining room, before he rounded on his brother.

“You went to our parents about what we talked about last night?” Keith demanded.

Shiro shrugged, looking a little guilty now that he could see how angry Keith was about all of this. “I could tell you weren’t really going to talk to them about it. Plus, it has been bugging me for a while that they never let you do anything.”

“That was my thing to ask them,” Keith protested. “And-and I’m not even sure how I feel about Lance and Hunk at this point! Besides, my confidence about that whole thing was basically crushed when Hunk kind of ran away from me when I tried to bring it up.”

“Wait, you actually brought it up with Hunk?” Shiro asked with a small smile.

“Oh, don’t give me that,” Keith scoffed.

“No, this is a big step for you,” Shiro assured him. “Wait, did you tell him how you think he was the merman that saved you from that shipwreck?”

Keith blushed. “I mean, not yet…But that is besides the point. Look, that wasn’t something you could just bring up to Mom and Dad without my permission.”

“And I’m sorry,” Shiro admitted, “but nothing was going to happen if it was all left up to you. I know you, you like things as they are and you don’t want to change that. The only way you’re going to get Mom and Dad off your back and to figure out your emotions with these guys is to take a step forward. I just…gave you a little nudge.”

“More like plunged me in head-first,” Keith said. “Now they’ll both think I’m courting them based on what Dad said and I don’t even know which one I would want to court and-”

“You said you offered it to Hunk last night,” Shiro said.

“I also said he ran away from me,” Keith said.

“And you do like Lance a lot, too, from what I can tell,” Shiro pressed. “Just…talk with both of them. Be open about it, you never know what will happen. Trust me, this isn’t the end of the world.”

“Don’t pull something like this again,” Keith scoffed. “But I guess I’ll forgive you this time. Only because you’re my brother.”

“This wouldn’t be the first time,” Shiro said with a smile. “Now, go. I’ll distract Mom and Dad so they don’t think you’ve been gone for a while.”

“Thanks,” Keith said. “I’ll…see if they’re still in the dining room.”

It only took less then a minute from separating from his brother that Keith discovered they were definitely not in the dining room. It was completely empty, aside from a single servant cleaning up the last of the mess left behind. Where would they go? Keith had never actually thought about what the two do while he had to be separated from him. Both of them just kind of found him around the past couple of days. Either that or they were already together. So…how would he go about finding them?

Keith started walking through the halls, listening for Hunk and keeping an eye out for the two of them, but he couldn’t find anything. Asking a few of the servants turned out to be useless, too, since most didn’t seem to pay much mind to the comings and goings of their guests. Keith huffed after a while of searching.

If he were Lance and Hunk, where would he be?

Keith paused in a hallway, crossing his arms over his chest, trying to think clearly. Well, Lance liked the water. Actually, that was an understatement, Lance seemed to love the water. So…maybe the beach would be a good idea? Did those two even know there was a beach? That was a great question…

It was worth a shot. And, if it turned out the two weren’t there, Keith got to take a good look of the beach and the ocean while he was at it. After a matter of minutes, he was climbing down the stairs, hearing the familiar rush of waves and feeling the wind through his hair. It was great, relaxing, felt like where he was supposed to be. It was absolutely great.

He started to hear something, a voice. Oh, it was Hunk. Keith smiled, rushing a little faster down the stairs. He did get lucky. Once he made it to the sand, he could see that Lance was there, too, waving out at the ocean, but Keith could deal with that later.

“Hey! Lance! Hunk!” He couldn’t stop the smile on his face when he saw them, it was just what happened. As he continued to move forward, however, he felt something sharp stick into his neck, like a bee-sting but worse. He hissed, stopping as his hand went to investigate, but the world seemed to swirl suddenly. That definitely wasn’t good.

He blindly grabbed for whatever was in his neck, but he kept missing it before he felt his legs practically disappeared underneath him and his vision went from swimming to black.


	12. Chapter 12

Lance could only stare in shock as Keith fell to the ground. He and Hunk quickly ran over, both falling to their knees as they looked over Keith. Lance took the dart out while Hunk checked his breathing and his pulse. Lance tried looking into the dart, seeing what kind of poison Pidge had used. Whatever it was only should have knocked someone like Hunk out for an hour at most. But this wasn’t Hunk.

“What poison did she use?” Hunk asked carefully. “Why was she using poison in the first place? Was this intended for me?”

Lance looked up at him, unable to answer any of his questions, before looking out at the water. Pidge was already as far onto the sand as she could make it.

“Lance, I thought the plan was to hit Hunk, why’d you stop me?” Pidge asked. Lance was honestly starting to wonder if people forgot that he didn’t have his voice anymore.

“You know what, this isn’t important right now,” Hunk said. “What poison did you use?”

“It’s a jellyfish toxin,” Pidge said. “On a merperson like you, it only would’ve knocked you out for a few hours with no damage. But on a human…”

“It could kill him,” Hunk said and Lance felt his stomach drop. Keith was already starting to look clammy from where he laid on the ground. “I have an idea,” Hunk continued. “I’m gonna take him to my place, I have the materials I need for a cure there. I’ll get him back as soon as I can.”

Before Lance or Pidge could react, Hunk was already on his feet, carrying Keith like he weighed nothing, and running towards the water. Lance couldn’t even try to explain to Hunk that Keith couldn’t go into the water, that he was terrified of it, before Hunk used magic to give him back his tentacles and they both disappeared.

“I’m going to keep a watch over him to make sure he doesn’t do anything funny,” Pidge said, already sliding herself back towards the water. “Lance, the spell’s gonna end at sundown, right? Hopefully this is figured out before then. And…I’m sorry I missed.”

Lance let out a long breath before he looked up at the castle. He couldn’t just sit around and wait for this to happen. He had to do something, tell someone at least. He had to find Shiro. Before Pidge made it back to the water, Lance was running up the stairs to get back inside the castle. He dodged around servants as he desperately looked around for Shiro. Hell, even Keith’s parents would be a blessing at this point. They had to know their own son was about to die because of some stupid mistakes of a few merpeople and a stupid “lover’s quarrel.”

Thankfully, Lance found Shiro first. He was standing in the library, glancing between some books, but Lance’s running into the room seemed to shock him.

“Lance?” Shiro asked, taking in Lance’s stressed out stance. “Is something wrong?”

Lance nodded furiously. He walked towards Shiro and started pulling on his arm to get him out of the library. Lance wasn’t quite sure what he intended to do, but he had to do something. At least get out onto the water.

“Is this about Keith?” Shiro asked, his voice laced with worry, almost sounding like he hoped he wouldn’t get an affirmative answer. Lance nodded and Shiro did start following. “What happened to him? Where is he?”

Lance hesitated before pulling Shiro with him back to the beach. He had to work with what he had to explain what happened. He’d tell Shiro this whole, complicated story later, but for right now, Lance had to get to Keith’s side while he could possibly die. Lance trusted Hunk to do his best, but Lance didn’t even know which jellyfish Pidge got this toxin from and just the idea that Keith could die because of this stupid…thing…Lance would never forgive himself.

Shiro still looked confused as Lance led him to the empty beach. Lance let go of him long enough to quickly search through the sand and pull out the little dart. Maybe he could explain this to Shiro. Hopefully. He moved quickly, pointing to the dart, then his neck, and then out to the ocean.

“I…don’t follow,” Shiro said slowly. “Did Keith get hit with that dart?” Lance nodded. “What was in that? Wait, _who_ hit him?”

Lance feverishly pointed out to the ocean. That wasn’t important right now. What was most important was that Keith was out in the ocean. Underwater. Hunk would keep him safe, sure, and would make it impossible for Keith to drown. But Lance had seen Keith in waist deep water. He’d seen how Keith reacted to being in any kind of water. He was terrified. And if he did wake up down there…there was no telling what his reaction would be.

“He’s out on the ocean?” Shiro asked slowly, as if he didn’t believe that was possible. “What, was he kidnapped? Where’s Hunk?” Lance just pointed out to the water again, impatiently. Technically, Keith was kidnapped by Hunk. But what was most important was the fact that they were out there and Lance was still on land. He had to do something, anything to help Keith.

Shiro hesitated for a bit. “Do you know where they are?” Lance nodded. It was a little different trying to guess where Hunk’s place was above water, but he knew generally where to look. As long as they could get to that general area by sundown, he could do the rest from there on his own. He just needed help getting out there. Shiro would be perfect for that.

“Maybe we should get the King and Queen,” Shiro said, looking back at the castle hesitantly. “If this is a kidnapping…”

Lance shook his head fervently, holding onto Shiro’s arm and all but tugging him towards the water. There was no time to deal with Keith’s parents, especially not when he couldn’t explain anything with words. So, he tried a new tactic, mouthing words. He was never the best at this, which is why he never tried in the first place, but he had to do his best.

He went easy at first, just mouthing the word ‘mermaid’ and pointing towards the water and Shiro furrowed his brow.

Shiro took a deep breath. “Are you trying to tell me that a mermaid kidnapped my brother?”

Lance shrugged. That was sort of right.

“I don’t…” Shiro hesitated. “You’re not making any sense.” There was a long pause as Lance tried to wrack his brain for any way to get Shiro to agree to go out on the water with him. “Are you sure Keith is out there? In the water?” Lance nodded furiously. “I can get us a boat, just show me where.”

* * *

It was just a simple spell and there was a bubble of air around Keith’s head, making it easy for him to breathe, even underwater. Hunk held Keith close to him as he swam as quickly as he could through the water. He wasn’t quite sure which jellyfish Pidge used for the toxin, but it was working quickly. Keith was already having problems breathing and he was sweating profusely.

“Hunk!” Pidge called behind him, quickly catching up to him since she was smaller and faster. “What can I do to help?”

“Now you want to help?” Hunk all but snapped. He only regretted it a little. Pidge was the one that hit Keith with the toxin, meaning to hit Hunk. Just when Hunk was finally thinking he and Lance were figuring out their feelings…this all happened… He wanted to believe that maybe Lance still cared about him. He did try to stop Pidge after all…but he probably came up with this stupid plan with Pidge’s help in the first place. To get Hunk out of the way. He was only a wizard that cursed Lance in their eyes.

But that wasn’t important now. What was most important was saving Keith.

“I can get the type of jellyfish I used for the toxin, to help with an antidote,” Pidge said.

“Then do it,” Hunk said and Pidge nodded before swimming off.

Hunk looked down at Keith as he swam. He was warm in his hands, even with all the cool water around them and he no longer looked peaceful. He was in pain. It was a very strong toxin, whatever it was. Which meant Hunk had to work fast. Until he could get the exact toxin used against Keith, all he could do was fight the symptoms. But he needed the stuff back at his home. He regretted just leaving without thinking, since he was so freaking slow.

He could have just turned Lance back to a mermaid and Lance could have used his speed to get Keith to safety quicker. There was no turning back now, he had to commit. He was already planning what to use to help Keith. Why did he have to live so far away from the castle?

Keith was starting to squirm weakly in his grip, the pain growing steadily worse. Hunk held him tightly to his chest. He could do this. He could keep Keith safe. He wouldn’t let him die, especially not over this stupid, stupid situation Hunk had forced all of them into.

Finally, finally, Hunk reached his house, darting between all of the people out and about during the day that gave him weird looks. Not to mention the fact that he was holding a human in his arms. But he couldn’t give them any of his attention, swimming into his home and leaving Keith to float in the center of it as he went to retrieve some potions.

Once he’d gathered what he needed, he carefully took hold of Keith again, tilting his head back as he maneuvered a bottle into the bubble of air around his head. The liquid touched Keith’s lips, a lot of it just pouring over his face, but some actually made it into this mouth. And, miraculously, Keith swallowed.

“You’re doing great, Keith,” Hunk assured him with a hand on his shoulder. “You’re gonna make it out of this. I’m so, so sorry. This is all my fault.”

He kept working, looking at the dart wound at Keith’s neck before applying an ointment that was filled with healing herbs. That would at least suppress the toxin for the time being… Where was Pidge with that stupid jellyfish?

“I’m sorry, Keith,” Hunk said as he worked. “I wish it didn’t have to be like this. I should have just let you and Lance figure yourselves out and not gotten involved and this never would have happened. This would’ve been so much easier. You would be happy and not close to death. But, don’t worry, you’re not gonna die. I won’t let my mistakes do this do you.”

“Hunk!” Pidge called out, swimming quickly into the room with a netted jellyfish in hand.

“You really went all out,” Hunk said, regarding the jellyfish. That would have definitely done some damage to him.

“Well, I was and still am pissed,” Pidge said, handing it over to him. “But I didn’t want to hit Keith. Save him.”

“Yeah,” Hunk said, nodding as he set to work. “Don’t worry, Keith, you’ll make it out.”

* * *

Keith felt like he was on fire from the inside out. All he could feel was himself floating in this pain and he couldn’t think of anything else. He couldn’t think about breathing, about living, only the pain.

And the voice.

The voice that had saved him before, soothed him before. He couldn’t hear the words, but he didn’t need to. They were comforting. They helped ease the pain away, even just a little bit. As Keith floated in the pain, he used that voice as his anchor. It had a healing quality all on its own, it seemed. With each word, the pain seemed to alleviate just a little.

He felt something dragging him, maybe it was the voice, but it was pulling him…somewhere. He had no choice but to let it take him where it wanted. The pain was almost completely gone as the voice kept going. He felt something comforting ghosting over his body, like waves of reassurance. It was nice, like a constant, cool blanket around him. It was getting rid of the fire inside of him, getting rid of all the pain.

It pulled at his eyelids, leaving him staring at a ceiling of some kind, but it looked…off. Like there was something more than air in front of him. Then, Keith noticed the fact that there was something completely surrounding his head, like a fishbowl. The more he took stock of what was around him, the more a very, very large pit appeared in his stomach. He was…floating, and when he moved his arms and legs, they were sluggish, like they were being hindered. He saw the bubbles, the items floating around him. And then he saw Hunk, floating beside him…well…half of Hunk was there, but his legs were replaced with…tentacles…helping him float and swim through the…water…

They were underwater.

Keith felt all of his limbs lock up as he started breathing too quickly for him to keep up. Someone was talking to him but he couldn’t hear anything as he curled in on himself. This was it, he was drowning, for the last time. He didn’t know how or why it happened, but he was trapped in his worst nightmare. He had never left the ocean at all, he was stuck back in it. There was no way for him to escape. He was trapped.

He was going to drown.


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: more panicking and anxiety in here.

Hunk honestly didn’t know what to expect when Keith finally woke up, but it definitely wasn’t this. Keith took a long time to wake up in the first place, but Hunk didn’t know too much about humans and how they reacted to these things, so he just assumed this was normal, but he absolutely refused to leave Keith’s side for anything. Pidge had left some time ago to try and find Lance, wherever he wound up during all of this.

Keith had been recovering pretty well, the fever completely gone and the pain seemed to ease after just a little while, but when Keith woke up and immediately started going into a panic, Hunk knew something was wrong.

“Keith, it’s okay,” Hunk tried to assure him, but Keith was already curling into himself, his hands firmly planted against his head. Hunk was very happy with how permeable he made that bubble or it would have popped. Keith had his eyes squeezed tightly shut as his entire body seemed to quiver. “Keith…”

“Get away from me!” Keith all but screamed, his voice hoarse from everything that happened. He was terrified. But…why? Was this an affect of the toxin or was this something else? The next time Keith spoke, his voice came out so small and shaky that Hunk was surprised it came from the same person. “How can I breathe?”

“It’s magic,” Hunk said carefully. “It’s air, you can breathe. You won’t drown down here.”

“Yes I will,” Keith said. He was crying. Hunk immediately felt guilt wash over him. Keith was so panicked that he was crying against his own will. His whole body was tense and quivering, refusing to stay still but also refusing to move.

“Keith,” Hunk said carefully, but keeping his distance. Keith didn’t want any contact right now, that much was obvious. “You’re safe here, I promise. Nothing is going to hurt you.”

“Shut up!” Keith shouted again and Hunk took a breath, staying firmly where he was. “G-get me out of here…I can’t…”

“I can’t, not right now,” Hunk explained. “You just almost died from a jellyfish toxin. I need to make sure nothing is left to hurt you.”

“Let me leave!” Keith sobbed, curling further into himself. Keith’s eyes opened occasionally, feverishly looking for an escape route, but his body looked like it would refuse to move. “Just get me to land…please…I can’t…”

“You’re not going to drown,” Hunk said. “You can’t drown right now.”

“Yes I can,” Keith said, tears flowing freely now despite what his pride would no doubt say later. Hunk sighed. Time to try a different tactic.

“I have something to confess to you,” Hunk said. He could try distracting Keith, for the time being. Until he was sure there was no chance for the toxin to return. With a wave of his hand, he made Lance’s voice return back to the shell where he’d been keeping it safe. Now that everything was calming down, he could focus on something other than Keith. “That wasn’t my voice.”

Keith hesitated, looking him in the eye for a fraction of a second. “What?” Keith asked.

“There’s this really long, drawn out explanation for all the stuff that’s been happening, but what you need to know is that I’m not a human, I belong down here, underwater. I’m not a noble and I’ve been tricking you and Lance this whole time.”

Keith had turned to taking a few deep breaths, meaning he was working on calming himself down. Good. This was sort of working. “Why?”

“Uh…long story,” Hunk said. “Short of it is…I really, really like Lance, but he wanted to be with you and, at first I wanted to stop you two at all costs, but then…I don’t know. I saw the two of you together and it seemed like it was meant to be. And…I guess I realized I liked you, too. Probably as much as I love Lance. I haven’t known you long enough to know for sure but…I really, really do like you.”

“Is this really a good time for a confession like that?” Keith asked, slightly impatient, but he was calming down, at least on the outside.

“Probably not,” Hunk said, “but I’ve literally never done anything right for the past three days so why start now?”

Keith took a few more deep breaths. “You uh…probably didn’t know this…I…That voice really isn’t yours?”

Hunk shook his head. “No, it’s really not.”

“Whose voice is it?” Keith asked.

“Lance’s,” Hunk answered. “I…took it from him.”

“Why?” Keith asked, but it looked like he was doing a lot of thinking in his head. His muscles were still tense, but it looked like his mind was calming down.

“I…I didn’t want you two to be together at first,” Hunk confessed. “I was willing to do anything to stop it. And…I know Lance. He’s…amazing. And I needed to do something to give him a disadvantage. I thought taking away his voice would help.”

“Is…is Lance a…is he like you?” Keith asked, looking Hunk up and down.

“Yeah, he’s a merman,” Hunk said. “Uh…he’s got a fish tail, though, so not quite like me?”

“Do you know…” Keith said, slowly uncurling from himself. “Is he the one who saved me?”

“What?” Hunk asked.

“A while ago, there was this…this storm,” Keith said. He was definitely still in a panic, but he was calming down, which was all that mattered. “I thought I was going to die…drown…he…someone or something saved my life. And that voice. Your voice. His voice…is all I remember. Did Lance save my life?”

Hunk let out a small sigh. Of course that’s what happened. They were a perfect story, the two of them. It was like they were meant to be. Lance had saved Keith’s life and they would both do anything to see each other again. Hunk didn’t even stand a chance from the beginning. With either of them.

“Maybe,” Hunk said. “You’ll have to…uh…ask him yourself.”

“Where is he?” Keith asked.

“I…I don’t know,” Hunk admitted. “You were dying, I had to save you, I left him back there.” That reminded him...It took a little bit of concentration, but Hunk was able to let go of the magic giving Lance his legs, and he released Lance's voice, sending it back to him.

“I was dying?” Keith asked.

“Like I said, jellyfish toxin. It was meant for me, because of what I did to you and Lance. But it hit you. It wouldn’t have killed me. To me, this kind of sting would’ve knocked me out for a few hours max. But to a human’s system? If I hadn’t been so quick, you would have died a few hours ago.”

“I’ve been down here for hours?” Keith asked with wide eyes. The breathing was coming quickly again.

“You’re safe here, I promise I would never do anything to hurt you,” Hunk said. “And like I said, you are in a magic bubble, you literally cannot drown with it on. You’re not in danger again, I can promise you that. I’ll get you back to the surface soon, but first I need to make sure I got rid of all the toxin.”

Keith nodded slowly, but shakily. “Magic?”

“You just learned that mermen are real and you’re questioning the existence of magic?” Hunk asked bluntly.

* * *

Lance had never noticed how long it takes ships to get places. It was so much faster for him to just swim, but he was pretty damn sure he couldn’t figure out how to swim with these stupid legs. Not only did it take forever for him and Shiro to get a ship, let alone get it out onto the water, but then it took forever to get anywhere because the winds were almost nothing that day. Lance was getting antsy and the more he looked at the water from above, the less he trusted his own ability to know where he was going.

“You know I trust you, Lance,” Shiro said carefully, “but I feel like we need more to go off of here than this.”

Lance nodded, gripping tightly onto railing as he stared into the ocean. Keith was out there with Hunk, who Lance trusted to keep him safe. But he was also under water, which meant that he was probably in a panic right about now. He just…he had to get out there. It had been hours and he hadn’t seen Pidge or Hunk or Keith. He was half willing to just jump into the water anyway.

He looked up at the sun in the sky. There were still hours left in the day before he could get his tail and gills back. This would take forever! He had to think of something, some way to let Shiro know that he knew what he was doing. More or less. Lance took a deep breath. He could do this.

Just when he was about to open his mouth to say something, Lance felt something weird in his gut, twisting, and his knees felt weak. He leaned his back against the railing, his hands gripping hard onto it as a light-headed feeling washed over him and his legs turned to jelly. White hot pain flashed through his legs and he tried to cry out, but no noise came, and then he felt his foot slip, his arms barely keeping him up.

He screwed his eyes shut as the pain washed over him and he couldn’t even feel his feet anymore. The more he paid attention, however, the more he felt something…familiar. He opened his eyes in shock to see that his bright blue tail was, in fact, back, his legs gone. He could feel the gills on his neck and he looked up at Shiro, who was gaping at him like a fish. Lance felt a familiar lump settle in his throat and he couldn’t help himself as he smiled, letting out a small, testing laugh. His voice actually came out. His voice, as familiar and deep as ever.

“What just happened?” Shiro asked.

“I…” Lance cleared his throat. “No time, Keith’s under there, I’m gonna check on him. He’s most likely not dead.”

“What?” Shiro asked, still completely confused.

“I’ll explain later!” Lance called out before using his arms as leverage to get him over the railing and he fell back into the water. He took a deep breath, finally back in his element as he looked up at the ship. He could feel bad about leaving Shiro alone up there later. Right now, he had to find Hunk and Keith and make sure everything was okay.

It only took a few seconds for him to figure out where he was before he started swimming in the right direction. He was mostly right, just off by a little bit. He made it to the right area in a matter of minutes. He snaked through the crowd easily before ducking into Hunk’s dwelling, readying himself for the worst, to take Keith up to the surface as quickly as possible if Hunk hadn’t already done that.

What he didn’t expect however, was to hear the sound of laughter. From both Hunk and Keith. Lance blinked as he looked at the room in front of him, Hunk and Keith relatively close as they both smiled, coming down from some joke or something as they took in his presence.

“Lance?” Keith asked. He seemed…fine. A little ruffled, but otherwise completely fine. Definitely not dead. He had a little bubble around his head that honestly made him look adorable and was probably Hunk’s doing. And he wasn't in a blind panic, which meant Hunk was the one keeping him calm.

“I’m sorry it took so long for me to get those back to you,” Hunk admitted, looking over Lance. “It was kind of busy down here.”

“Keith, you were laughing,” Lance said, still a little exhausted from his quick swim over. He was honestly expecting Keith to be in the middle of a panic attack or something, but he was laughing and having a good time?

Keith tensed slightly before smiling slightly. “So that’s what you really sound like,” Keith said warmly and Lance felt himself blush. It felt like a million little fish were swimming in his stomach and he couldn’t stop himself from smiling.

“I…uh…” Lance had to stay focused. “You’re underwater…I…uh…I figured…”

“Hunk helped me calm down,” Keith said with a small smile, looking around the water. “It’s…not so bad. I’ve missed it. I used to love the ocean. I think I just needed to…face it, as much as that was terrifying. I'm still...panicking a little...but I think it's okay.”

“Yeah, sorry,” Hunk admitted. “Wait, where’s Pidge? She’s been looking for you forever.”

“I dunno,” Lance said. Honestly, he was never going to take his voice for granted ever again. He had so many things he wanted to say over the past three days. “Uh…Keith…maybe we should uh…air out this whole thing?”

“Hunk told me a lot of the story,” Keith said. “About your feelings and…his feelings and…”

Lance waited for a moment, but it didn’t seem like Keith wanted to continue, so he spoke instead. “Look, this just turned into this really big mess and we got you swept up in the middle of it. Honestly…Keith, I really like you. Hell, that’s why I up and got legs for you. After what happened during that storm-”

“So you’re really the one that saved me?” Keith asked. It looked like he wanted to move around, but that was still a little too much for him. Lance smiled and offered a nod. “It was really you? I’m not going crazy?”

“I mean, that’s relative,” Lance said. “And, technically, Pidge saved you. But I got you out of the water and away from the ship. I…couldn’t let you die. I don’t really know what came over me. But ever since then…I’ve really liked you. And spending just two days with you has been the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”

“Lance…”

“But,” Lance said carefully, “and this goes towards you, Hunk. I…I think I feel the same way about you, too? I’ve known you since we were kids and…seeing you now? I feel something that I never felt before. And spending time with you before this whole mess was some of the most fun I’ve had since we got separated. And, despite everything that you did, which I can arguably say is endearing depending on how you say it, I do still really care about you. I just think there’s some stuff we need to deal with. Like actually saying our emotions to each other?”

“Yeah, probably,” Hunk admitted. “You…uh…you already know my feelings about you and…Keith, you know that, too.”

“This is all just really confusing, isn’t it?” Lance asked with a slightly laugh. Honestly, they were all such wrecks. Lance looked at Keith and so did Hunk. Keith licked his lips before he let out a long breath.

“I like both of you, too,” Keith admitted. “A lot. Honestly, I’ve been having dreams about the man that saved my life for weeks and knowing that he’s actually a mermaid like I thought this whole time is…amazingly weird. And spending time with both of you has been so great for me. But…it’s weird isn’t it? I…I like both of you.”

Hunk chuckled. “We’re a mess, aren’t we? I’m really sorry, again. To both of you. This entire mess could have been avoided without me.”

“If it weren’t for you,” Keith mused, “I wouldn’t have really met either of you and I wouldn’t have had probably the best three days of my life. Despite the panic attacks, I think you two are good for me.”

Hunk smiled, blushing slightly.

“I mean,” Lance mused, “we wound up figuring our shit out in the end. Keith’s not hurt, I’m not hurt. No hard feelings, really.”

“You’re really willing to just drop this?” Hunk asked.

“I mean, we need to work on your conflict management skills, but, yeah, I think so,” Lance said. “It’s not like I never want to see you again. I definitely want to see you again. Both of you.”

“Me, too,” Keith admitted. “I’m still not entirely sure about my feelings or what’s going on, but I would…really like to see you again.”

“One problem,” Hunk said. “We all like each other. What does that mean for us?”

Lance mused for a bit. “I mean…I don’t really see a problem at all. I like both of you…if we’re willing to give something like that a shot…we don’t really need to choose, do we?”

“Why did I never think about that?” Keith asked bluntly. “I mean…my mother and father wouldn’t approve but…when have I really listened to what they had to say?”

“What about you, Hunk?” Lance asked. “Willing to give it a shot? Instead of sabotaging me and Keith, how about you be a part of this? Worst thing that happens is it doesn’t work out and we have to choose. But we can figure that out later.”

“I…like the idea of it,” Hunk admitted. “But Keith’s a human. He belongs on land.”

“Hasn’t stopped either of you before,” Keith snorted and Lance laughed.

“He has a point,” Lance said. He took a deep breath. “Uh…by the way, Keith, your brother’s kind of on the surface worried sick because I couldn’t exactly explain anything to him and then I suddenly turned into a fish and then disappeared without a word. I think we owe him something at least.”

“Uh…yeah, yeah,” Keith said, hesitating slightly.

“Something wrong?” Hunk asked.

“Could we just…stay like this? For a little bit?” Keith asked. “It’s…nice… I mean, aside from the near crushing anxiety that I’m about to drown…It’s really nice. I don’t have to go up there and face anyone, I can just stay down here and…breathe a little.”

“Ironic,” Lance said. “I’ll wait ‘till you’re ready, don’t worry.”

Keith laughed slightly. “Thanks.” He paused. “Shiro is so gonna eat his own words when he sees you again. He never believed my saved by a mermaid story.”


	14. Chapter 14

Swimming through the water was weird. Ok, swimming through the water and not drowning was weird. Keith hadn’t so much as touched the water on purpose since the accident and that was for a reason. But he did miss this feeling. The reassuring, surrounding feeling of the water rushing around him, the freedom of movement that didn’t leave him stuck on the ground. He nearly wished that bubble was gone so he could feel the water through his hair.

Lance seemed equally as happy to be swimming. He looked completely in his element, the muscles on his back stretching happily as he showed off by doing some tricks in the water. He and Hunk looked like they belonged in the water. They were so much more full of life down here, their eyes more alive and their smiles more vibrant. Even after leaving Hunk behind, the memory of how comfortable he looked was burned into his memory. Keith almost never wanted to see them on land ever again.

“And if you feel comfortable about it,” Lance said, his lips moving a million miles a minute now that he could talk again, “when you come down here I have so many things to show you. There’s the underwater volcano, there’s the schools of fish. And I bet you would love the shipwrecks. You seem like a shark guy, are you a shark guy?”

Keith couldn’t help but laugh a little. He could have guessed that Lance was the type that loved to talk, but it was adorable seeing him do it now. He hadn’t been able to talk for almost three days, must have been hard for him.

“I like sharks,” Keith finally admitted. He did go through a massive shark phase as a kid, but Lance didn’t have to know about that. “Is that safe?”

“Sharks won’t hurt you for no reason,” Lance said with a scoff. “Hell, I’m even friends with some that would totally let you touch them.”

“Really?” Keith blurted out before he could stop himself. He tried to recover by asking another question. “You’re friends with fish?”

“I mean, duh,” Lance said. “I’m part fish, I can definitely communicate with them.”

“Don’t you eat them?” Keith asked.

“Well, I don’t eat sharks,” Lance said. “We get each other, I guess.”

Keith couldn’t help but laugh. He looked up, the surface was right there. He hesitated, letting Lance swim past him. There was a ship right there, the sun quickly setting around it. How long had he been underwater? He almost didn’t want to go back up there, where all of his responsibilities were. Where all the things he didn’t want to face were. But his family was also up there.

“Hey,” Lance said, placing a hand on his shoulder, “it’s gonna be okay. We’ll figure this whole thing out.”

Keith smiled faintly. “My parents are going to be really disappointed that the only people I could’ve courted actually belong underwater.”

“I mean, you could still marry us and I wouldn’t complain,” Lance offered and the two of them grew massive blushes on their faces. “Never mind, we’ll talk about that later. Much, much later.”

Keith cleared his throat. “Good idea.”

“So mermaids aren’t an option for marrying royalty?” Lance asked.

“No one’s really asked that question before,” Keith said.

“Well, maybe it’s about time someone did,” Lance said, looking up at the boat. “Your brother’s worried sick. I know you want time down here, but…”

“No, I-I get it,” Keith said before swimming upwards. Once his head breached the surface, the bubble popped and he looked up at the ship. It wasn’t exactly big, but still needed at least ten men to get it moving. Lance surfaced beside him, looking up. The sea was calm around them as the sun set and Keith took a deep breath.

“Going back doesn’t mean you’re just leaving us behind,” Lance said. “We’ll see you again, promise. And this time with less…drama. Hopefully.”

“Knowing you two?” Keith asked with a smirk. “I won’t get my hopes up.” He looked back up to the ship. “Shiro!” he shouted as loud as he could, hoping to at least get someone’s attention. Who knew what the crew were thinking about all this, let alone Shiro.

Thankfully, a handful of people looked over the edge to see Keith and Lance, who both waved up to them sheepishly. Finally, Shiro leaned over the edge and let out a long sigh.

“You better have a great explanation for all this,” Shiro said, sounding exhausted. Keith let out a laugh.

“I’m not sure if you’ll believe me!” Keith admitted.

“I’ll get a ladder,” Shiro said, disappearing once again.

“I should go back and check up with Hunk,” Lance said. “We’ve, uh, still got some things to work out. Now that I have my voice back, you know…”

“Yeah, I figured as much,” Keith said. “Go ahead. I’ll see you soon?”

“Absolutely,” Lance said with a smile. He bit his lip before quickly ducking in to kiss Keith’s cheek and plunging back into the water. His tail surfaced for a brief second, sending a splash and Keith smiled faintly, his face burning. When did his life get this weird?

Eventually, the ladder did come down and Keith quickly climbed it, both happy and sad to find himself on solid wood and not just water. Immediately, Shiro was looking him over for injuries.

“Where did Lance go?” Shiro asked before deciding that Keith was fine.

“Back down, to talk to Hunk,” Keith said.

“Hunk’s involved, too?” Shiro asked, sounding tired.

Keith laughed. “Long story short, two merpeople fell in love with me and they spent the past three days successfully getting me to fall for them, too.”

“That answers none of my questions,” Shiro said.

“I’ll explain in detail on the way back,” Keith said. “I’m fine, though, I promise.”

Shiro let out a sigh before nodding. He started ordering the men around the ship with practiced ease. He was born to be a leader, Keith couldn’t help but notice every time he took charge like this. Keith, on the other hand, still felt a harsh pull towards the ocean below them. He looked towards the shore, where he could almost see the castle…and he didn’t want to go back. He didn’t want to hit land ever again.

* * *

Lance carefully swam back into Hunk’s home, watching as Hunk put everything back into place. It was obvious that, in his haste to make sure Keith didn’t die, he made quite a mess of everything.

“So,” Lance said, announcing is presence as he swam further in, “I think now that I actually have my voice, we can properly talk about everything. Like we wanted to this morning?”

“I think we should, yeah,” Hunk admitted, turning towards him. “I mean…I’ve pretty much said my piece, but…what is there for you to say?”

Lance sighed. “I dunno, this morning feels so far away at this point. This morning, I was really, really tired. I learned from Pidge that you had feelings for me yesterday and all this stuff with you stealing my voice from me and it was all so much I just wanted to…give up, I guess? I didn’t know what to do and I was tired of having Keith in the middle of everything so I was just gonna let things run their course. But I was still mad at you.”

“Understandable,” Hunk said, his voice small, like he was afraid of interrupting.

“And then you told me everything,” Lance said, a small smile worming its way onto his face. “And I realized how stupid of a situation we all found ourselves in. I mean, it had been barely three days and we were this much of a mess and…I dunno, I guess I’m over it? Keith almost dying and you coming clean it all…just made everything seem less important. So…as long as you swear not to trick me like that again, I’ll be willing to move past it. I mean, there was no serious harm done, after all.”

“I did trick you really badly,” Hunk offered.

“Yeah, and that was a dick move, but, like who doesn’t make mistakes when they’re stressed out?” Lance offered. “By the way, you definitely could’ve told me sooner about this crush thing.”

“I was nervous,” Hunk admitted, twiddling his thumbs.

“Yeah, well, like, it was my first time seeing you in years and all I could do was stare at your muscles and wonder when you got so freaking hot but managed to stay just as nice and cute. Honestly, I totally would’ve reciprocated and questioned going after Keith.”

“Really?”

“I mean, it would’ve been really confusing and this whole thing never would have happened, but yeah. I definitely would’ve considered it. Hardcore.”

“You think I’m hot?” Hunk asked quietly.

Lance scoffed. “Have you looked at yourself recently?”

“Yes…” Hunk said slowly.

“Jeez.” Lance ran a hand through his hair. “Listen…you and Keith are probably the most attractive people I’ve ever seen in my life. We’ll work on the self-confidence later, but just know that as a fact right now.”

Hunk blushed furiously, but nodded. “Okay, well, I’m glad that we’ve figured out our differences. What about Keith?”

“Well, he did say he wanted to see us again…” Lance mused. “He’s figuring out all that stuff about not wanting to be king and everything…I have some plans, but I wouldn’t want to force anything on him.”

“So…we just casually stick around until he makes a decision?” Hunk asked.

“I’ve already been willing to give up my tail for him before,” Lance said. “But I’m definitely not giving up my voice again.”

“Valid.”

“What about you? If Keith does decide to become king up there, what do you think you’ll do?”

“I don’t know,” Hunk mused. “But I know that’s also not what Keith wants. I’m actually not really sure what Keith wants to do. I mean, it’s not like he could just run away and come down here.”

Lance sighed. It was an unrealistic option, one that he liked a lot…but he would never force that on Keith. He’d let Keith make that decision on his own. It was obvious Hunk could use his magic to do that…but Keith would need to ask for it himself, without either of them bringing it up.

“Best we can do is be there for him,” Lance said. “How do you feel about going to see him tomorrow? We can stick to the beach this time, at least.”

“That sounds…nice,” Hunk admitted.

* * *

_*Several Months Later*_

Keith laid back in the sand, letting the water wash over him and barely trace his back, staring up at the light blue sky. Today was the day. There was no turning back. And that was a comforting feeling. He let out a long breath, enjoying the feeling of water and sand between his toes. It had taken a while, but he was completely at ease with the ocean once again. Hell, he’d gone swimming with Lance and Hunk multiple times (some of those with a tail of his own which were some of the best experiences in his life) and came out just fine. He felt at home in the ocean, like he was always meant to be there.

“The sun’s about to set,” Shiro said from beside him and Keith glanced up at him. Shiro was pretty relaxed, too, all things considered. But today was weighing down on him, too. This would be the hardest part of today… “They said they’d be here by dark, right?”

“Yeah,” Keith said. “Mermaid time is a little different from our time, though. It’ll be fine.”

“I just hate…waiting like this,” Shiro said.

“Just want it ripped off like a bandage?” Keith asked with a small smile.

“I’m gonna miss you,” Shiro admitted.

“It’s not like I’ll be gone forever,” Keith said. “I’ll visit. As much as I can.”

Shiro sighed. “It won’t be the same here without you, but I respect your decision. If I was in your position, I’d do the same.”

“And you really don’t mind?” Keith asked, turning on his side to look at his brother dead-on.

“For the last time, I’m fine,” Shiro said with a smile. “Honestly, it’s secretly what I’ve been wanting for years, but I never let myself think about it. I’ve been the bastard child this whole time, older but never meant to be king. I’ve never been jealous of you, I’ve just…wanted more.”

“You’ll do much better than I ever would,” Keith said.

“Yeah, I’d look forward to a life of doing nothing, too,” Shiro said with a sly smile.

“Shut up,” Keith scoffed. “They have jobs and stuff down there. I think. Based on what they’ve been saying.”

“Just stay safe down there,” Shiro said.

Keith sat upright and looked out at the water. The waves came and went as the two brothers lulled into silence. This was nice. Almost like a calm before a storm, but there was so much more than a storm coming to him.

“I’ll do my best,” Keith said.

And then he saw them.

Two heads poked up above the water, arms raising in waves before they ducked back down. They appeared again, much closer and Keith couldn’t stop the excited smile on his face as he stood up. His stomach churned in excited knots and he looked down at Shiro, who was still sitting down, staring out into the ocean. This was it.

Keith stood in front of his brother, holding out a hand to help him up to his feet. Without a word, Shiro took it and hoisted himself up. Keith smiled at him, holding back the tears he knew were coming.

“Let’s go,” Shiro said, placing a hand on Keith’s shoulder to turn him around. Keith nodded, taking a deep breath.

This was it.

He and Shiro walked into the water, both of them still fully clothed but not really caring. They stopped about chest deep into the water, Lance and Hunk happily greeting them. Keith happily accepted a hug and kiss from both of them before he stepped back, taking a deep breath.

“You all set to go?” Lance asked.

“Yeah,” Keith said. He’d said his goodbyes to his parents, granted they didn’t know it was a goodbye. He’d told them he loved them, he apologized for being a brat most of his life…he’d said goodbye.

The plan was that he would just disappear. Shiro would say he had no idea where Keith went, people would search for him, but no one would think to look for him as a mermaid, because everyone knew mermaids didn’t exist. Shiro would take up the role of crown prince. Keith would have a new life in the ocean. All that was left was to say goodbye to Shiro.

“Do you want a last moment?” Hunk asked.

“We’ve said what we needed to,” Shiro said, placing a hand on Keith’s shoulder.

Keith’s breath hitched before he turned and pulled Shiro into a tight hug. He’d still see him around, he’d visit as much as he could, but this still felt like a goodbye. Like there was still a chance they wouldn’t get to see each other again. The tears started to slip, so Keith hid his face in Shiro’s shoulder until he calmed down. Shiro more than happily hugged him back.

“Alright,” Keith said, stepping back. “I will…see you on the other side.”

“Good luck,” Shiro said. “Be great.”

Keith smiled, turning back to his boyfriends. “I’m ready.”

“If you’re sure,” Hunk said, moving forward to start working his magic. “Swim a little further out here so I have more room to work with.”

Keith assented, swimming further into the water so his feet could no longer touch the ground. He wiggled his toes just for the sake of it before Hunk placed a hand on his back. It was warm, almost hot. Keith knew what it felt like to have his legs disappear, but it still felt weird every time. The white hot pain that flashed through before they seemed to stick together, as he grew out the fins, as the gills appeared on his neck. No matter how many times he saw it, Keith was sure that he would never quite get used to that bright red, scaley tail. But damn did it make him swim fast.

“How you feeling?” Lance asked and Keith looked over at him with a smile.

“Good,” Keith said, looking at both of them. “Really, really good. This was a good decision.”

“Wait until you see where we found you a place to live,” Lance said excitedly. “Pidge found it, you can practically see a sunken pirate ship from the opening! It’s the coolest thing ever!”

“I can’t wait,” Keith said, smiling. He looked back at Shiro, who offered him a smile and a nod. Keith nodded back to him before diving down into the water. Out of habit, he still closed his eyes and held his breath. But it only took a moment for him to open his eyes and see the bright color all around him. Lance and Hunk came down beside him and Keith smiled, letting out the breath and letting the water move in his gills. It felt just as natural as the last time. But this time…there was no going back.

Hunk placed a hand on Keith’s shoulder. “You doing alright?”

“Yeah,” Keith said, working quickly to take off the shirt and squirm out of the pants that were still on. “Yeah, I’m good. Let’s get going.”

“Alright!” Lance said. “We’ve got so much to show you!”

Keith smiled, following them close behind. He didn’t look back at the castle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bah, I'm sorry for the lame ending. What with all that's been happening and how long it's taken to get through this story, I think a lot of the inspiration just up and left. But I refused to quit! I'd like to give a special shoutout to Xou and KiannaCat for being fantastic reviewers! Y'all gave me the most inspiration and I hope I haven't completely disappointed you with this ending!
> 
> Anyway, thanks for reading! It might be a while until my next fanfic, but we'll find out!


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